Noire

VNV Nation’s full return to activity in 2018 in the wake of notably uneasy world events over the past two years found Ronan Harris’s optimism-in-the-face-of-dread at once tested and made perfectly appropriate for the moment. From the opening howling intensity of “A Million” and on such further songs as “Immersed” and the party-while-you-can roar of “Lights Go Out” Noire lives up to its name in many ways, but there’s still hope and uplift to be found on songs like “When Is The Future” as well as understated contemplation and reflection on “Collide” and the moody instrumental “Guiding.”