Comprised of Dale Norton (vocals), Callum Norton (drums), Jamie Darby (guitar), Thomas Ford (bass), and David Hardstone (guitar/keyboard), Broken Hands are an energetic stadium rock band hailing from Kent who have been playing together for well over a decade. Their debut album, Turbulence, was released last year and earned the outfit airplay and press coverage with the likes of Radio`1, The Independent and Clash.

It also propelled the band into a whirlwind schedule of touring that has seen them play across the UK and Europe, and saw them sharing a stage with the likes of The Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath, Blur, Catfish & The Bottlemen, and Band Of Skulls.

Now safely back on home soil, Broken Hands have dropped their second LP Split In Two, which has been produced by Julian Emery (Nothing But Thieves, Lissie) and mixed by Tom Dalgety (Royal Blood, Ghost). It’s not arrived without the odd hiccup along the way though: the release was delayed slightly as physical copies of the album were stuck in mainland Europe as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. But as I feast on their sonic cocktail, I can confirm it was well worth waiting for.

Opening tracks Can You Feel It and Lazarus make for a raucous start, before Friends House, with its almost spoken-word verses and nu-metal esque industrial feel, catches you off guard, exploding into life with a rampaging chorus. Mess, Run Away and Light Up find us in indie rock territory, and the slower tempo exposes the richness and quality of Norton’s voice, which has a distinctly Brit-pop quality to it on these tracks.

Split In Two and Wrong Track drift towards Red Hot Chilli Peppers with huge, fuzzy riffs and staccato structures that build into epic singalongs, while Thinking Of You is a flurry of guitars and drums that makes a strong case for being the best track here. For The Night closes things in style, a contemplative slow burner with an Aerosmith feel that shows another side of Broken Hands’ songwriting talents.

According to a press release for Spit In Two, the album was inspired by “some gruelling times on the road” and “some tough challenges within the music industry.” Based on this collection, I’d say they’ve come through their troubles not just unscathed, but in triumphant form.

Split In Two tracklist :

1. Can You Feel It

2. Lazarus

3. Friends House

4. Mess

5. Run Away

6. Split In Two

7. Light Up

8. Wrong Track

9. Thinking Of You

10. For The Night

 rock 

Author: Joe Sharratt

Joe Sharratt is a writer and journalist based in the UK covering music, literature, sport, and travel.