STACK April 2016 Issue 138

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Even if you're able to ignore
what is an absolutely superb
(and apt) album cover, the music
that's waiting to burst out of
M83's new release Junk is off the
planet. It's like careening through a
perfectly-timed, synth-
addled meteorite shower
in outer space, and your
co-pilot is one of those
little boyos on the cover.
Brilliant.
level is a studio. It’s all wooden and
beautiful. We had this track going,
and I guess it was something that
we created all together. The idea
and influence behind it was pretty
TLC, Salt-N-Pepa, Toni Braxton
vibes. We were putting melodies in
the air and were hashing out how to
say something: really just saying it
instead of beating around the bush.
When we were writing that chorus,
I was like ‘I want to say “f-ck you
baby.” How do I say that?’ And he
said, ‘Well, just say it.’”
In regards to the storm that
erupted over Browne’s Op Ed
published in February – in which she
addressed the grossly sexualised
comments she received from
viewers during a live stream
interview – the musician’s fire isn’t
diminished. And why should it be,
when this kind of harassment is
so systemic and habitual? “The
term ‘cougar’ – I hate the term
‘cougar,’” she says. “Same as ‘ball-breaker’
or ‘songstress.’ It’s about negging women
and keeping them down, and I f-cking hate
that. I think the good thing that’s happening
at the moment is people who have a platform
are talking about stuff. I think part of it is
globalisation and the internet and people feeling
like they can speak about it. The more people
that do make a stand, the more discussion and
understanding are going to become a part of
our everyday.”
visit MUSIC NEWS
06 jbhifi APRIL 2016
MUSIC
Y ou’re going to want to tease your lid up
beehive-tall with your shiny, shiny talons
after hearing the first few notes of Clairy
Browne’s outstanding new effort, Pool. The very
‘60s glamour of Browne’s voice and her Bangin’
Rackettes past is swirled through an authentic
mix of ‘00s R’n’B – Aaliyah, Brandy, Denstiny’s
Child – with rattling beats, little triangle chimes
skipping along fat old-school horns, and some
supremely disco guitar.
Browne has burst out of the collective,
collaborative, nine-piece Bangin’ Rackettes
approach into something fabulously
independent. “It was just me making decisions,
and I didn’t have to bounce them off anyone,”
she tells us of her debut full-length. “But
apart from that, it’s very liberating to be able
to guide your own ship in exactly all the
nuances and all the little ways you want to
create. Overwhelming, for sure, but I think
‘overwhelming’ is part of that responsibility of
being completely autonomous.”
The title track features some inspired strings
and very cool Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough-
style clinking percussion. “It was definitely
intentional,” Browne confirms. “The idea was
to write a super summertime song that was
about being sexually empowered, and being
really chilled about situations you’re in that can
be casual. And you can just have a love affair or
whatever, and it can just be fun. And I think MJ
really embodied that at a time.”
Meanwhile, Calling For you has strings like
CLAIRY BROWNE
continued
Pool by Clairy Browne
is out April 15 via Caroline.
Nancy Sinatra’s You Only Live Twice shimmering
all over it; there’s a hugely Destiny’s Child feel
to Kill ‘EmWith It; and the bugging rhymes of
single Vanity Fair – which was released with
a smoking video last year – will absolutely not
leave your head once you hear them.
FUB is full of caramel harmonies and a chorus
message that is straight to the ‘get bent’
point, yet it’s not vicious – the poolside kimono
demeanour is still very present. “I wrote
that with Cool Guy Jimmy Harry – it’s not
his nickname, I just call him 'Cool Guy' – and
MNDR, who co-wrote a lot of stuff on the
record with me. I’m just going to paint the
picture for you,” she laughs. “We were up in
[Harry’s] studio which is in the Hollywood Hills.
It’s an amazing three level house, and the top
INTERVIEW
M83
Having caused a goodly stir at Brisbane's Big Sound
conference/festival last year, Big White are ready to sail
their debut album into the rapids of the greater musical gauntlet.
The intriguing five-piece are anything but ill-equipped: their
various support slots with DMA's, Fraser A. Gorman and Bad//
Dreems have helped shape Teenage Dreams into a sweet
beast of a release: it's got briny guitars that have this fluent
Echo and the Bunnymen or Split Enz feel, and Nick Griffith's
excellent, flung vocals are so genuine you can't help but imagine
an '80s suburban houseparty with Neil Finn chilling on a couch
somewhere. Teenage Dreams is out now through Caroline.
KEVIN MORBY
We highly recommend the
macabre, beautiful, very
funny clip for I Have Been To
The Mountain, but the entirety
of the album from which it
comes – Singing Saw, the third
from the tender and sharp mind
of 27-year-old Kevin Morby – is
incredible. With Americana roots
and a determindly light grip on
subtle electronics, Singing Saw is
a seriously gorgeous achievement.
Singing Saw
by Kevin Morby
is out April 15
via Inertia.
Junk
by M83 is out
April 8 via
Pod/Inertia.
BIG WHITE