Existence Is Bliss. DEADLETTER

With 'Hysterical Strength' DEADLETTER stormed into these pages about one and a half year ago. Here is the follow up record already. Now one of the things I had read after the release of the album was that saxophone player Poppy Richler had left the band, so I wondered what the new DEADLETTER would sound like.

There's no need to worry. Existence Is Bliss is just as good, if not better than the debut album and there's is a saxophone still, the instrument that makes DEADLETTER stand out so much from all the other contemporary bands. The trio that started the band, Zac Lawrence, Alfie Husband and George Ullyott, are mentioned in the bio. I do not have any further information here.

Existence Is Bliss continues where the debut left off. The album sounds extremely self-confident. This is a band that knows what it is doing and has found its stride. Of course, the music is still postpunk and qualifies in multiple ways. Just read my previous album review for that. What I rejoice at, is the swagger with which the band presents its new album. It is so confident, that it dares to not open the album with a bang, but with more an atmospheric intro instead. Singer Zac Lawrence takes his usual place, singing like a new wave, doomed singer from the early 80s. Just listen how the song gets its punch when the rhythm section, Alfie Husband (drums) and George Ullyot (bass) joins and then 'Purity I' gets its next level punch when the lead guitars come in and the drummer starts playing his hi-hat as well. This is how you make a slow appearance, to deliver the hook and sinker and reel the listener into an album. 'Purity I' does all this and makes me want to hear more, now!

DEADLETTER's music does not come out of thin air. The band listened to Fontaines DC but is also faster in its development. It already has a 'Romance' by itself, as Existence Is Bliss shows. The London band is able to play with moods and that saxophone plays a big role there. In 2024 I opted to point out the similarity to Bowie's 'Blackstar' album and that still makes sense. The songs on Existance Is Bliss as such have nothing to do with Bowie's swan song, that saxophone style of playing and its function creating a certain mood has. It makes DEADLETTER's music clearly more interesting and fascinating.

Zac Lawrence would have been a great singer in the early 80s as well. Except, I would not have liked his band much most likely at the time. Bands strove to not make songs that please. DEADLETTER does. All the songs have elements that combine listening, dancing, singing along and are intriguing. This band manages to do it all combined, stimulating different sides of my music receptors. Song after song, 12 in all, have it. It makes Existence Is Bliss one of the better released albums in 2026 to date.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

The music of DEADLETTER is on Bandcamp:

https://deadletter-band.bandcamp.com/