Clinic's third full-length album capitalizes on the band's skill for mixing haunting, memorable melodies and surging rhythms into a chilly, keyboard-dominated post-punk sound. Lead singer Ade Blackburn's effects-drenched, angst-y vocals wend around snake-charmer clarinet melodies and distorted, wiry guitar on "The Magician." "Country Mile" and "Anne" are characterized by insistent tempos, but also feel architecturally minimal, while voices, effects, and instruments (a tambourine, most notably) create increasing tension in the expansive, moody atmosphere of the mix.
These attributes should be familiar to fans of the band's arty aesthetic, and WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL's excellent production highlights the group's sonic tricks. "Home," for example, a spectral, melancholic ballad, features the disturbingly loud sound of a baby rattle encircled by twangy, reverbed electric guitar. A mesmerizing phaser effect on "The Majestic #2" makes the song sound as though it were being sung through an oscillating, underwater fan. The album reveals some fine pop songwriting too, as on soulful, stirring "Falstaff," while the hard-edged "WDYYB" proves the Liverpudlians can also rock with abandon. While not a great leap forward (stylistically, WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL takes a cue its predecessor WALKING WITH THEE), this batch of dark, distinctive, post-punk-influenced tracks will not disappoint Clinic's following.