Jack Thundercliffe - 'Your Curse' Album Review

"The majority of the time, I have a guitar within arm's reach..."

Jack Thundercliffe

The first song on the album is entitled Sinfonia in F#, a haunting song which sends chills down your spine. It conjures images of sadness in your mind. It is so simple and yet so brilliant, truly embracing the idea of ingenious simplicity.

The second song, entitled Your Curse is the titular song on the album and is reminiscent of songs such as House of Wolves by American rock band 'My Chemical Romance', who have inspired Thundercliffe since his early teen years. Their influence in his writing is very clear here, and I would put this song on a level with their own earliest works, making it a passionate yet angered track that fires up the body of the listener. "[Your Curse] might be one of my favourite songs on the album, and was completed in one day."

My Vendetta, the third song, is angry. It is fast and it is energetic. It's exactly the kind of music that I love.

The fourth song is called Detonation City, and is an energetic song which makes the listener want to beat the drums alongside the awesome guitar riff. It is so full of emotion that it's crazy, and truly fills the body of anybody who listens and makes them relate to the feelings of the artist.

Even if the song didn't have the coolest name on the album, The Eye of Horus and a Hidden Reality would still be my favourite. It begins calmly and seems to lull the listener into a false sense of security before blasting them out with an incredible sound. I love this.

Song six, Camden Lockdown feels very dark. I feel like I can relate - lockdown was hard on all of this - but this track is amazing because it truly embodies the emotions which the artist, Thundercliffe, but also a lot of other people went through during the last eight months. It embodies how confusing it has all been and how conflicted everybody has felt. This song fascinates me in that it has no vocals, and yet I feel that I can relate almost exactly.

Corpse Reviver 212 is a heavy, sinister sounding song, in my opinion. It is dark and menacing but one of the best on the album because of how different it sounds to every other song, but also how alike. It blends in and lends a few notes to the story which is being woven on Thundercliffe's debut album. A super, super amazing song, Corpse Reviver 212 is something out of a murder mystery and yet a Netflix original film all at once. How it crosses so many different genres and combines so many sounds is astounding.

Jack Thundercliffe is a London-based musician, originally from Hampshire. Over the past two years he has been writing and recording a DIY music project, alongside training to be a doctor. The guitar-driven music draws influence from the likes of Nirvana, My Chemical Romance, Frank Iero, Green Day and Brand New.

Initially, the songs were written as stand-alone pieces, but it soon became evident that they tied together through sonic elements and emotion. Furthermore, it felt that the project had a beginning, middle and end - leading to the decision to assemble the music in the form of an album. Although the album is free of vocals, the story of "Your Curse" is told by guitar leads, orchestral arrangements and other instrumental voices.

The artwork is a piece by Dave Dick Illustration, an artist who Jack has long-admired. It was immediately clear that the image was an excellent representation for the sound and theme of the album, also serving as a nod to the album's Halloween release date.

When The Looting Starts... is the eight song on 'Your Curse' and sounds entirely different to all the other tracks accompanying it. It's loud and passionate and begs to stand out amongst its comrades. If I had to pick a defining song, it would be this one. It showcases Jack Thundercliffe's talents as not only a musician, but as an artist overall, and I think it gives a really good insight into the kind of person he is and the general genre of music which he makes.

Barely halfway through the album, and already the mood has changed. The songs on the latter half seem to be a lot angrier and a lot harder emotionally than the former seven. The ninth song, Give Me Grief immediately starts off loud and hard and induces a type of pain in your heart. It is the kind of song which you blast after a heartbreak.

Interlude, the tenth song on 'Your Curse' is calming. It gives the listener a break from the intensity of the last few songs and almost wipes the pallet clean, preparing the listener for what is to come. Simplicity, in this situation, is best, because this song is, in my opinion, close to perfection.

At exactly seven minutes long, Somnus Alucinari is a song not for the faint of heart. It is an epic, vivid track which is bursting with life. However it is dark and lucent, and an outstanding addition to the album 'Your Curse'. Thundercliffe has really pushed the boat out with this, showcasing his decadent yet inclusive talent for mixing incredible instrumental tunes.

Very Much Alive, the twelfth song, is reminiscient of My Chemical Romance's I'm Not Okay (I Promise), in my opinion. Once again, they're influence on Jack Thundercliffe's music is abundantly clear. This track sounds tight, like the entire thing has been arranged precisely, down to the very last second, and there is no room for movement within it. Whether this is a good or bad thing, I'm not sure, but the song itself is pretty catchy.

I first heard the penultimate song, Tokyo Vanished, when Thundercliffe released it as a single... and I loved it instantly. Listening to it on this album is no different. It is a great song.

The final song, Angels of Tragedy, has a melancholic feeling to it, but at the same time is uplifting. For me, it seems to tell of a heartache that does indeed end, and something better coming along.

The debut album from full-time med student and part-time musician Jack Thundercliffe is entitled 'Your Curse'... and it is fantastic. Full of emotion, amazingly mixed and mastered and so energetic that it bounces around your head long after the last chord has been struck. None of the songs have vocals, which is a shame because that would really complete them, but the songs are so powerful that you can almost imagine someone singing along. Without the vocals, the songs seem to belong to you. You feel as if you can finish them, and by Thundercliffe creating such dominant tracks, you feel inclined to listen over and over until you can actually feel them surrounding and enveloping you. If he had not chosen a career in medicine, then I myself would push him towards a career in music. It is not often that I hear such an amazing album.