Album Review: InMe – Jumpstart Hope

When the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve, InMe embarked on their fourth decade of active service. The Essex quintet may no longer bother the charts with the same regularity they once did, but, as seen on this seventh album, their longevity is not without purpose.

Impassioned but never naive, on songs such as the jagged Blood Orange Lake and the magnificently spacious The Leopard, the batting average is reassuringly high. But if InMe have a fault, it’s a tendency to try and fold too many styles into one album: acoustic one minute, riff-burdened another, irritating screamo elements elsewhere.

The end result means that Jumpstart Hope has a disjointed feel that sees the album amounting to rather less than the sum of its parts. But when it flies – as it does on the beautifully arranged Clear History and the taut For Something To Happen – its authors remain a band with something to say, and the knack for saying it well.

Verdict: 3/5