Consider the urgency with which Protomartyr has approached everything —three albums in three years, each more extraordinary and rewarding than the last.
Preoccupations: a singular, bracing collection that proves what's punishing can also be soothing, everything can change without disrupting your compass.
"The band's defeatism takes on a new tenor: battle-worn, sincere, and not quite so antagonistic. That may mean that New Material lacks the punch of their feisty debut, but it also lends these songs a soothing quality." -Pitchfork