STACK #138 Apr 2016

MUSIC NEWS

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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.’” 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 In regards to the storm that erupted over Browne’s Op Ed

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INTERVIEW

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

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

‘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.”

MUSIC

Pool by Clairy Browne is out April 15 via Caroline.

KEVIN MORBY W e 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.

M83

E ven 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-

BIG WHITE

addled meteorite shower in outer space, and your co-pilot is one of those little boyos on the cover. Brilliant.

H aving 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.

Junk by M83 is out April 8 via Pod/Inertia.

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