The Scholars have never been a band to shy away from ambition or self-confidence, and it’s telling that they’re referring to ‘Love The Thunder’ as “our first single of 2013″ – they seem a band with a plan, and the types that call band summits to discuss strategy.

Such boldness and planning is apparent in ‘Love The Thunder’, which opens with anthemic drums and keyboard lines before working its way through a traditionally-structured song that revels in its weighty normality. The production values on the track are pin-sharp, and perfectly capture/reproduce the reverb-heavy mini-epics of Echo And The Bunnymen whilst referencing the neo-shoegaze of bands like Asobi Seksu. So, there are EQ-filling waves of sound interspersed with twinkling piano lines, with the whole burgeoning miasma built around an urgent, circular drum pattern.

The vocals do that thing where they sound part of the texture and yet simultaneously strident – even, at times, angry. It’s the shouted, distant vocals towards the end of the track that help the track to break free from its self-defined uptight attitude. The Scholars have before and still do hint at being constrained by the sound they create so powerfully – by leaving so little breathing room, it can be difficult to experiment or to find new ways in which to push this kind of song. ‘Love The Thunder’ is an example of The Scholars being really good at what they’re doing; here’s hoping that they can expand what they do throughout 2013 to make their second, third and further singles of the year (along with whatever else they have on their strategic plan) truly set the band apart.

‘Love The Thunder’ is available to stream or download via Bandcamp. Here’s a video for the track: