When Archive started their alternative-prog-electro trip 30 years ago, the Britpop movement was on its last legs, and it was almost refreshing that the collective came across with the necessary seriousness and gravity on their debut album LONDINIUM. 13 regular and even as many soundtrack, remix and live albums later, when you listen to GLASS MINDS you feel the same way you felt in the stadium last summer when Oasis returned live: nothing has changed! Archives still sound serious and heavy. Like Pink Floyd as an indie band.
The music drones and whispers, synths pile up, the beats are slow but powerful, an electric piano plays a sad melody. No wonder that archives have found a second main market for their music in a difficult and serious country like Germany.
What’s impressive is that project leader Darius Keeler isn’t backing away from the album idea in 2026: no track is under five minutes, the suspense is long, and the production is extremely complex right down to the last outro. And with “Look At Us” there’s even a kind of pop hit in between.
This review appears in Musikexpress 3/2026.
