Van Houten – ‘The Tallest Room’ album review: seven years well spent 

Posted On March 21, 2024March 21, 2024

THE SKINNY: Under the care of Clue Records, Leeds-based Van Houten have spent seven years honing their slacker shoegaze sound, as well as their genuine friendship behind the scenes. Now, bolstered by EMI North, they’re ready to unveil both to the world with The Tallest Room, a seamless debut record that’s as authentic as it is atmospheric.

Though Van Houten clearly borrow from the density and distortion of their shoegaze predecessors, there’s a vulnerability to their take on the genre, as well as an openness to more melodic stylings. Amidst sludgy strums and wails of feedback, they allow moments of respite with gorgeous finger-picking and words that chart coming of age with unparalleled fidelity.

The record itself seems like a statement for taking your time, the sound it commits to tape so clearly sharpened and smoothed throughout that seven-year period. But beneath that seamless sound, Louis Sadler’s lyrics chart the accompanying anxieties of being shackled by the slow life, and the overwhelming pressures to get out there and make your mark on the world in your youth.

Van Houten may feel those pressures, but their refusal to bend to them has only served their sound. The Tallest Room is a considered collection of feelings and fuzziness, only enhanced by Alex Greaves’ production. Like the Simpsons character they owe their name to, Van Houten are safe in the knowledge that everything’s coming up roses. The Tallest Room is just the beginning.

For fans of: Shoegaze and The Simpsons, however small the intersection between those two fandoms may be.

A concluding comment from a cynical music fan so cool they hate everyone: “Great, more nepotism in the industry as Denise Van Houten’s kids rip off The Jesus and Mary Chain, who I also don’t like, but this time in Yorkshire.”

The Tallest Room track-by-track:

Release date: March 22nd | Producer: Alex Greaves | Label: Clue Records / EMI North

‘Black and White’: Monochromatic whirrs and melodic guitars set the stage for The Tallest Room, an album just as catchy as it is atmospheric. Louis Sadler’s wonderings are buried under layers of fuzz and feedback, his repeated declarations of “I don’t know” just as screeching as the instrumentation that surrounds them. [4/5] 

‘Never Did Come Back’: Dark twangs and tales lost at sea converge on ‘Never Did Come Back’, one of the gloomiest and grungiest corners of The Tallest Room. The song captures the passivity and hopelessness that can set in in the depths of mental illness, that feeling of being adrift with no way back to land. [4.5/5]

‘Coming Of Age’: The album’s lead single serves as proof of Van Houten’s penchant for pop. Glistening guitar plectrums and swirling synths conjoin in a self-proclaimed coming-of-age anthem, the likes of which haven’t been heard since the days of Wolf Alice. “It feels like a coming of age!” Sadler declares. He’s not wrong. [3.5/5]

‘Panoramic View’: As the album reaches its midpoint, we find ourselves in the titular tallest room with a birds-eye view of Van Houten. Instruments seem to melt into one another on ‘Panoramic View’, a song so seamless it justifies seven years in the making. [4/5]

‘Note To Self’: Understated and urgent, ‘Note To Self’ contains all the inescapable FOMO of your early 20s. “Leave your mark in the sand while you can,” Sadler implores himself as guitars pile up, mimicking the pressure to do so. If the jubilance of ‘Coming Of Age’ doesn’t quite reflect your formative years, maybe the anxieties of ‘Note To Self’ will. [3/5]

‘I Only Wanna Be With You’: The shortest track on The Tallest Room may also be the sweetest. ‘I Only Wanna Be With You’ has a duration that is just shy of two minutes, and most of that time is devoted to repeated declarations of the title. Still, the song is all the more striking for it, oscillating between soft strums and grungier guitars with romantic devotion. [4/5]

‘Head Straight’: Respite comes in the form of ‘Head Straight’, which almost abandons distortion and devotion in favour of contemplation. “I just need to get my head straight,” Sadler admits amidst twinkling strums. Catharsis only comes at the track’s climax, which devolves dense layers of screeching feedback and persistent percussion. [4/5]

‘I Let You’: As The Tallest Room comes to a close, Van Houten give into their softer side on the sprawling ‘I Let You’. “You went away so fast,” Sadler laments, “I can’t stand the silence.” The strums that surround his words are steeped in that same vulnerability and melancholia, honing a sound that is, somehow, uniquely Van Houten’s. [5/5]

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