Mesh - The Truth Doesn't Matter [CD]

Ten years after Looking Skyward, Mesh have come back with a title fit for the post-fact era. The Truth Doesn't Matter is the UK duo's first full-length in a decade. Mark Hockings and Richard Silverthorn let a darker undercurrent run under these songs, but they never lose the melodic instinct that has carried the band since the early nineties.

This is synth-pop built for big rooms and headphones alike. Across 16 tracks, the band nods to three decades of electronic music, from the pulse of Giorgio Moroder and the ache of Yazoo and Depeche Mode to the shadowy textures of Garbage and Massive Attack. The result still sounds only like Mesh. The title track and "A Storm Is Coming" set a moody, urgent tone. "Exile" has quickly become a fan favorite, and "Bury Me Again" pairs the band with Mari Kattman on one of the record's most striking moments. Every chorus seems built to follow you out the door and lodge in your head for days.

More than 30 years into their career, Mesh are making some of the most confident music of their catalog. Longtime fans will hear the trademark sounds they love. Newcomers get an ideal entry point into one of electronic music's most dependable songwriting partnerships.

This CD edition holds all 16 tracks in a jewel case with a clear tray and a 16-page booklet. Fair warning: it's highly infectious.