Shopfires
We Are Not There But We Are Here

janglepop / jangle / jangle pop / lofi / bedroom pop / indie pop

Over the course of two albums and an EP with our Subjangle label, Midlands native Neil Hill and his Shopfires solo recording project augment the beautiful aesthetic of his music with an intense sense of matter-of-fact, almost brutal honesty that is aided simultaneously by song titles that may touch upon the less salubrious circumstances of his upbringing and the subtleties of a jangly musical melancholy that sits perfectly alongside labelmates such as Fine, The Boltons, and The Melancholic Men.

There is a noticeable, albeit subtle, shift in this third album, We Are Not There But We Are Here, that enhances Neil Hill's growing reputation for uncovering beauty in creeping sadness.

The change is most evident in the impressive opening sequence of "Stealing Groceries," "You Can't Live Without Me," "1982," and "Could Murder You." The previously dense, dank, and dulcet quality of his music has transitioned to a lighter production and a different aural texture. This is complemented by incidental jangled riffs that flutter with less precision compared to the dominant isolated riffs found in his earlier work, creating a fresh kind of melancholy instead of one that is overly sweet.

Committed fans, and there are many these days, will still find enough of the previously 'dank' quality in his tracks, such as the straightforward 'absolute tunes' of "I Will Remember You" and "A Spark Ignites." In contrast, a more opining, mellifluous signature sound dominates "I'm Not Coming Home Tonight" and "Lichen On The Ramparts."