STACK June 2017 Issue 152

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20 JUNE 2017
visit MUSIC REVIEWS
Leah Senior Pretty Faces
Leah Senior is the kind of artist
best enjoyed alone, indoors
and cozy on a cold winter’s day,
allowing her exquisite folk sounds
to melt your heart. The depth she
achieves with just her voice and a
guitar on Where Have You Been?
is astonishing, while the subtle
strings on Pretty Faces and Jenny
are stirring. You Were Not Fit For
The Day is wonderfully evocative
as Senior spins an observational
story, her double-tracked vocals
inducing chills. Black Limousine
notably shifts the pace of the
album as Senior's backing band
joins the fray, to potent effect.
With a spellbinding voice and a
delicateness to her music that is
nothing short of awe-inspiring,
Senior is truly something special.
(Flightless/Inertia)
Holly Pereira
Cable Ties Cable Ties
Melbourne’s Cable Ties might
sound like they bear a torch
for the '70s NewYork tradition,
but their debut record makes
stylish a flavour of punk that’s
gone somewhat out of style.
Being driven, as they are, by
ethos and a clarity of purpose
isn’t enough; it’s that, but
also a deceptive discipline for
songcraft that made any of
Cable Ties’ predecessors stick
through the decades. Vocal
slamdancing reminiscent of
X-Ray Spex’s Ari Up, a rhythm
section that trades Stooges
gnashing against Verlainean
noodling, and personal-political
screeds that embody the anger
of the world better than any
handwringing thinkpiece, mark
Cable Ties as ascendant icons –
and none too late.
(Poison City) Jake Cleland
Big Thief Capacity
Big Thief are the kind of band that
stop you dead in your tracks. In
the follow-up to their debut album
Masterpiece, a haunting guitar on
Pretty Things serves as a stunning
opening, with lead singer Adrianne
Lenker’s voice full of unfiltered,
heartfelt emotion as she sings of
deeply intimate moments. Shark
Smile and Capacity are more
electrified than we’ve previously
heard the band, while Coma
features some gentle acoustic
guitars as Lenker’s vocals take
on a tranquil quality. Meanwhile,
Mythological Beauty has an
uplifting melody but the lyrics
suggest a darker narrative, with
phrases that creep under your skin.
Big Thief possess a fragility that
genuinely resonates, and makes
their music an unforgettable listen.
(Spunk/Caroline) Holly Pereira
Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner,
Nico Muhly, James McAlister
Planetarium
If you’re making an album about the
solar system, you need an all-star
team. When acclaimed composer
Nico Muhly was asked to produce
an ambitious new work, he knew
who to call: friends and fellow
visionaries Sufjan Stevens, Bryce
Dessner and James McAlister.
Working together they produced a
song-cycle that explores each corner
of the observable universe, and
the hidden regions of the human
heart. Initially presented as an
immense live performance in 2012,
complete with orchestras and light
installations, Planetarium has now
been translated into a studio album,
no less powerful. Lyrical reflections
on the history and present state of
humanity are embedded in sombre
ballads, orchestral rock songs and
reflective electronic tracks.
(Remote Control) SimonWinkler
Jim Lawrie
Slacker Of The Year
The War On Drugs’ universally
celebrated Lost In The Dream has
defined this decade of grandiose
country-rock such that any record
in the same vein seems doomed
to comparison. But it’s a rich vein
to mine, and Jim Lawrie, who’s
been writing intense-yet-intimate
rock songs for about 10 years,
shows just how deep it runs on
Slacker Of The Year. Lawrie tunes
his misery to chugging muted
chords, evoking the physical
heaviness of trying to move
during some particular pain. The
sumptuous melodies that gave
his blues a soaring lightness
on previous record Eons are
anchored here by an omnipresent
gloom. Slacker Of The Year is
gut-wrenching. No comparisons
necessary. (Barely Dressed/
Remote Control) Jake Cleland
Apes Stranger Than Strangers
Melbourne foursome Apes'
debut has been four years in the
making, honed by live shows into
something sweet and sharp like
a bloody smooth mustard. These
tracks feature beautiful washes of
shifting colour with a sandy, fizzing
ride cymbal never far away; many
start with a nonchalant simian lope
that turns menacing or melancholy
with frontman Ben Dowd’s voice
developing a serrated edge.
Stand-out Tomb sees deep piano
coming in just a half-beat early,
giving a really propulsive vibe to
its wheeling synths; If You Want It
evokes a romantic City Calm Down
feel with glittering electric guitar
details, while Dimension’s climax
is cherry-proof the guys are more
than capable of thrashing out a
heavier rock riff. A lot of thought
has gone into this gorgeous debut
– check it out. (MGM) Zo ë Radas
Lapalux Ruinism
Lapalux makes electronic music to
make you feel. There's always an
impact – however subtle or sharp
– in the melodies, textures, beats,
or quiet interludes. There's also an
underlying restlessness, a desire
to push further into the technical
and emotional possibilities of
synthesised sounds. So it is
with Ruinism, which represents
an artistic breakthrough for the
musician and a breaking down of
his traditional working methods.
Tracks are made with instruments
and drum machines for the first
time, the sounds then recorded,
sampled, manipulated, re-built
and blended. It's an approach
that mirrors Lapalux' interest in
ideas around creation through
destruction, and yields some of
the most affecting and absorbing
music of his career to date.
(Inertia) SimonWinkler
Hazel English Just Give In/
Never Going Home
Instantly likeable Australian ex-pat
Hazel English’s Just Give In/Never
Going Home is the rose-tinted,
sun-kissed, bittersweet, indie-pop
album you’ve been waiting for.
Now residing in San Francisco,
Sydney-born English has added six
new tracks to her her 2016 EP, and
the new material slots in perfectly.
While NGH told tales of trepidation
in her new surroundings and the
weariness of chasing a dream,
Just Give In is English coming into
her own, realising those dreams
as a reality. There are highlights
aplenty (Birthday’s shimmering
power pop, Fix’s jangling chords
and dreamscape vocals), but That
Thing is an obvious stamp of
intention, with a deeper bassline,
glittering synths and increased
confidence.
(Inertia)Tim Lambert