Hen Ogledd DISCOMBOBULATED

Critic's Take

Hen Ogledd's DISCOMBOBULATED feels like a pranksterish, passionate manifesto where the best songs - “Scales Will Fall” and “Clear Pools” - do the heaviest lifting. Thomas Blake writes in an engaged, descriptive tone, praising the ragged anthem of “Scales Will Fall” and celebrating the nearly twenty-minute magnum opus that is “Clear Pools”, a hypnotic swirl of recovery and clarity. He also flags dance-floor propulsion in “End of the Rhythm”, and the plaintive, uncategorizable charm of “Land of the Dead”, which together explain why listeners ask about the best tracks on DISCOMBOBULATED. The result is an album whose best songs combine political bite with melodic thrust, making clear why these tracks stand out.

Key Points

• Clear Pools is the best track because it synthesises personal and political themes into a hypnotic, transcendent nearly twenty-minute magnum opus.
• The album's core strengths are its blend of political urgency, melodic danceability, and inventive, collaborative arrangements.

Themes

Critic's Take

Hen Ogledd have delivered on DISCOMBOBULATED with songs that feel both communal and urgent, and the best tracks - notably “Scales Will Fall” and “Scales will fall” - showcase that balance. Darryl Sterdan’s review frames “Scales Will Fall” as the record’s rallying cry, propelled by Bothwell’s urgent, charismatic vocals, while the album as a whole mixes field recordings, spoken-word and warm inclusivity to powerful effect. The record’s strange, complex and moving nature means the best songs reward repeated listens, revealing political fury and tender textures in equal measure.

Key Points

• The best song, “Scales Will Fall”, is the album’s rallying, protest-driven highlight led by Bothwell’s urgent vocals.
• The album’s core strengths are its mix of political fury and communal warmth, plus inventive textures from field recordings and guest contributors.

Themes

Critic's Take

What do you do when the world’s falling apart? Hen Ogledd answer on DISCOMBOBULATED by marrying placard-ready politics with pastoral fantasy, and the best songs - “Dead in a Post-Truth World” and “Scales Will Fall” - show it vividly. Richard Dawson’s grave delivery on “Dead in a Post-Truth World” and Dawn Bothwell’s so-called "bard rap" on “Scales Will Fall” make them the album’s clearest moments of confrontation and communal uplift. Elsewhere, the whirling chorus of “End of the Rhythm” and the expansive 20-minute awe of “Clear Pools” cement the record’s blend of manifesto and myth, making these tracks the standouts for listeners asking which are the best tracks on DISCOMBOBULATED.

Key Points

• The best song is 'Dead in a Post-Truth World' for its direct political confrontation and memorable quoted lyric.
• The album’s core strengths are its communal arrangements, blend of political manifesto and pastoral fantasy, and varied vocal approaches.

Themes

Critic's Take

Hen Ogledd\'s DISCOMBOBULATED stakes out its best songs as agitprop and consolation in equal measure. The review locates the album\'s manifesto in “Scales Will Fall”, praises “Dead In A Post-Truth World” as the clearest political salvo, and lauds the expansive sweep of “Clear Pools” and “Land Of The Dead” for their healing closure. Jeanette Leech\'s language is exacting and lucid, celebrating protest tradition while admiring the porous, communal arrangements that make these tracks the best tracks on DISCOMBOBULATED.

Key Points

• The best song is “Scales Will Fall” because it functions as the album's distilled manifesto with fiery, insurgent lyrics.
• The album's core strengths are its blend of protest folk lyricism, communal collaborations, and inventive sonics that turn disarray into hopeful urgency.

Themes

Critic's Take

In typically puckish fashion Tom Morgan hears in Hen Ogledd's DISCOMBOBULATED a nation askance, and the best tracks - notably “Scales will fall” and “Clear pools” - do the heaviest lifting. He lauds “Scales will fall” for its lo-fi trumpets and rapped, state-of-the-nation lines, while calling the 19-minute “Clear pools” a meditative triumph that makes time fly. Elsewhere “Dead in a post-truth world” and “Land of the dead” register as lucid political barbs and burial-chamber atmospherics respectively, all of which explain why the album feels both disjointed and healing.

Key Points

• The best song is "Clear pools" because its 19-minute meditative arc resets the listener's brainwaves and stands as the album's emotional core.
• The album's core strengths are its blend of folk, experimental and political lyricism, yielding a disjointed yet healing, smile-inducing experience.

Themes

Critic's Take

Hen Ogledd arrive on DISCOMBOBULATED as a stubbornly singular force, and the best tracks - notably “Scales Will Fall” and the monumental “Clear Pools” - make that case plainly. David Coleman’s prose savors the record's prog-folk chorus and Dawn Bothwell’s confrontational "bard rap", arguing that those moments reward patience rather than immediate appeal. He praises the 19-minute “Clear Pools” as an epic delight, packed with ideas and momentum shifts that justify its length and reveal the quartet's generosity as collaborators. The review’s tone is fond but measured, pitching the album as an outsider record that will thrill some listeners and surprise others.

Key Points

• The best song is “Clear Pools” because its length is justified by abundant ideas and momentum shifts.
• The album’s core strengths are its prog-folk contrasts, political bite in lyrics, and idiosyncratic British outsiderness.

Themes

Critic's Take

The record is maddeningly beautiful in places, and on DISCOMBOBULATED the best songs - notably “Scales will fall” and “Clear pools” - are moments where ritual meets pop in deliciously eccentric form. Seuras Og writes with amused bewilderment, noting how the processionals, horns and chanting make tracks like “Scales will fall” feel hymnally triumphant while the almost-folk sweep of “Clear pools” offers a soaring eye in the storm. The reviewer’s voice is skeptical and affectionate, urging readers to find time to make friends with this vexing, beguiling album.

Key Points

• The best song, “Scales will fall”, stands out for its hymn-like choruses and triumphant horns.
• The album’s core strengths are its ritualistic atmosphere, experimental instrumentation, and beguiling juxtaposition of pop and folk.

Themes

Critic's Take

You probably shouldn’t expect an easy ride into DISCOMBOBULATED, and Reuben Cross’s review makes clear why the best tracks - notably “End of the Rhythm” - emerge from that difficulty. His prose is measured and slightly weary, noting flashes of brilliance amid an album that often feels over-ambitious and disorienting. The review highlights how the band’s use of pan-British voices and children's vocal motifs can be dazzling yet sometimes feel manufactured, which is why the stand-out “End of the Rhythm” feels like the clearest payoff. Cross leaves the door open: with refinement this collection could become extraordinary, but as it stands the best songs are those that marry ambition with clearer cohesion.

Key Points

• The best song, “End of the Rhythm”, is singled out as the album's clearest and most successful moment.
• The album's strengths are originality and ambitious blending of British voices, but it suffers from a lack of cohesion and accessibility.

Themes

Critic's Take

Hen Ogledd's DISCOMBOBULATED is a sprawling meditation on cycles of life and nature, and its best songs - notably “Scales will fall” and “Clear pools” - most clearly stake that claim. Nadia Younes's writing dwells on the album's Eastern philosophical threads and the use of a child's voice to open the record, which makes “Scales will fall” feel like a manifesto and “Clear pools” a near-20-minute epic that culminates with sitar and lyrical spirals. The record often sways into meandering passages rather than decisive conclusions, which both deepens its thematic reach and leaves some moments feeling stunted. This blend of ambition and occasional drift explains why listeners seeking the best tracks on DISCOMBOBULATED will return to “Scales will fall” and “End of the rhythm” as guideposts.

Key Points

• The best song, “Scales will fall”, is most central for its manifesto-like lines and Eastern philosophical references.
• The album's core strengths are its thematic focus on life-death-rebirth cycles and ambitious, sprawling compositions.

Themes