Sacred Skin
Born in Fire
Artoffact Records

If you take any time to read reviews of Sacred Skin’s material you’ll notice how often the Los Angeles band is often described in filmic terms, a function of how effortlessly the duo of Brian DaMert and Brian Tarney have invoked the stylish cool of eighties Michael Mann and Ridley Scott through their brand of synth-laden rock. Their songs are widescreen, hinging on DaMert’s emotional vocal delivery and the smooth production that brings the best out of them. New album Born in Fire goes all in on the things that have defined Sacred Skin up ’til this point in climactic and sometimes dizzying fashion.

That description might leave you thinking the record is non-stop bombast, and while it has its share of big moments, the band are smart enough to arrange the album with valleys around those peaks. Opener “Waiting”‘s synth bass and chorused guitar riffs complement a more laidback delivery on the first verses and choruses, slowly building in intensity as DaMert gradually deploys his full range, the song becoming a new wave rave-up by its conclusion. Those kinds of feints are the record’s bread and butter, from the way that the romantic mid-tempo groove of “Show You Love” explodes midway through with a flurry of guitar licks, to pivots into the light and funky (duet “Call It Off”) and the darker, more anxious post-punk sounds (“Paranoid”).

Of course one of the not-so-secret keys to the band’s appeal has always been that their songs are well-crafted, with distinct choruses and arrangement ideas. Indeed, for a band who obviously put an emphasis on style, they’ve clearly got an understanding of their own strengths and how to use them to get the material across. “The Lights” is a fine enough tune from a writing standpoint, but what sells it is the way it floats its vocals ever higher above the synth toms and pads, a perfect feeling of culmination for a penultimate track, especially where it allows closer “Static Blue” to help the record go out on a sincere and melancholic note. Similarly, “Surrender” has a killer chorus, but its the transitions between sections that really allow it to shine.

Born in Fire is a proper record in the classic sense, constructed so that its songs buttressing one another so the height and breadth of the material is never in danger of collapsing in on itself. There’s no phoniness or irony here, and that sincerity is critical in keeping the feeling of exhilaration from becoming exhausting as it progresses from peak to peak. Sacred Skin have made a record that trades in grandeur without ever losing its grounding, and tops even their previous highs with cool confidence. Recommended.

Buy it.