Album review: A.A. Williams – Solstice

To be able to evoke emotion from music is a truly magical quality. To that end, classically-trained, London-based singer-songwriter A.A. Williams (Alex) may well be the High Priestess of gothic melancholy. Through two phenomenal studio albums and a collection of stellar EPs and additional projects, she has continually elevated her craft at each time of asking, culminating in 2022’s As The Moon Rests.

Now, Solstice unfurls in typical A.A. Williams fashion: heartfelt lyricism and shimmering vocals over rumbling, steadily-built post-rock riffs. Latest single Poison kicks off the album speaking of a love that rescues her from gloom. ‘In that second I knew I'd build worlds with you if you wanted’ and ‘with you I am born again’ are stunning utterances that ought to adorn high-end greeting cards between loved ones.

From there, Solstice maps out a discovery of self borne of lost love. Her staccato delivery on Little By Little makes for one of the bitterest tracks in Williams’ catalogue, while Wolves is a confession that she may not be enough for her partner in the record’s first tender moment of many.

Alex has developed her own signature style that points to so many sources of inspiration, and those are beautifully intertwined throughout the record. Outlines is Mazzy Star and The Pretenders rolled into one timeless cut of devastating emotion, while the monolithic climax of the track evokes Cult of Luna. Breathe has an air of Paradise Lost about its crashing wave of gothic drama, without sounding like a rip-off of either.

But it’s the heart of Solstice that really shows A.A. Williams to be one of the UK’s finest artists. The run of Outlines, I’ve Seen Enough and The Veil comprises 15 of the most sensational minutes you are likely to hear this year. Cinematic, poignant and transcendental, this is Alex at her magnificent best.

Solstice is the culmination of everything fans have come to expect from an A.A. Williams album. The crescendos are just as gorgeous as those quiet, calm moments that furnish the record, the lyrics are introspective and incisive, the general mood of the record makes Solstice - and by extension A.A. Williams - impossible to ignore.

Verdict: 4/5

For fans of: Emma Ruth Rundle, Paradise Lost, Cult of Luna

Solstice is released on June 5 via Reigning Phoenix Music