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Track of the Week: The Orchestra (For Now) encapsulate anxiety with ‘Amsterdam’
A lot of bands that generate immense amounts of hype from a tight live show often fall foul of not being able to follow up with recorded material quick enough to retain the attention of their audiences, and are unable to reach the heights that they’re supposed to.
London septet The Orchestra (For Now) are not willing to let this become their downfall, and after a promising 2024 where they became Green Man Rising competition winners and wowed crowds across the country, they’ve proven themselves to be just as industrious in the studio, releasing their second EP of 2025, Plan 76.
Not so much a companion piece or a sequel to Plan 75, which was released in March, but an additional five songs that show even further growth, ambition and fearlessness from a fledgling group who seem destined to be anointed as the next stars of the fabled Windmill Scene, following in the footsteps of the likes of Black Country, New Road with their somewhat erratic approach to art rock.
Sitting at the centre of this new EP, however, is the most arresting track the band has released to date in ‘Amsterdam’. Led by agitated pianos, post-rock guitar lines that morph into crunching metal riffs and a refined string section, the amalgamation of styles that the band attempts to cram into one song seems chaotic and bound to suffer under the weight of its own ambition, but they all work together to build to a cathartic crescendo.
Vocalist Joe Scarisbrick switches from gentle melodicism to pained yelps to mirror the frenetic development of the track, something that has long been a favourite feature of the band’s early live appearances, and the dexterity that they display in altering their approach mid-song is something that translates effortlessly on record.
It’s possible that some people are going to listen to The Orchestra (For Now) and decide that their proggy tendencies aren’t exactly to their tastes, but this doesn’t lean into that in an alienating way. If anything, it’s The Orchestra (For Now) who are the alienated ones, delivering songs that personify Gen Alpha anxiety and trying to make sense of a world that has been made harder for them to live in by the generations before them.
It’s worth noting that ‘Amsterdam’ is the sound of a band brimming with promise, and not one at the peak of their powers. Those haven’t quite been realised yet, but when they inevitably are, boy, are they going to be good!
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