Dark, crashing, whispering, abstract, deadpan internal monologues, dreamlike off-beat poetry, trip beats, crunchy electronica and industrial, grunge-guitar noise, the ex-Sonic Youth frontwoman, bassist and visual artist’s new LP is a challenging, truly innovative release. It’s as much sonic artform as an album of songs. Working with producer Justin Raisen again, the overall feel is fascinating, burning, crunching, banging industrial sculpture of hard, echoey sound. What is all about? Gordon describes her aim as capturing the insanity of the current world. “I wanted to express the absolute craziness I feel around me right now. This is a moment when nobody really knows what truth is, when facts don’t necessarily sway people, when everyone has their own side, creating a general sense of paranoia. To soothe, to dream, escape with drugs, TV shows, shopping, the internet, everything is easy, smooth, convenient, branded. It made me want to disrupt, to follow something unknown, maybe even to fail.”
And so it does - bewildering and stimulating from first to last. BYE BYE is a menacing, yet offbeat banal suitcase packing list to accompany a sense of departure, and the video stars her daughter. Psychedelic Orgasm is a ghostly, vivid noise everyday tasks, sights and sounds. It’s Dark Inside is a lurking witch cave of crashes, beep and thrums as Gordon speaks through the track and her streams of consciousness reference everything from Pussy Riot to Pussy Galore. Trophies meanwhile is a booming oddball creation about person with bowling trophies and captures that bowling lane mindset. The Candy House at first is an almost catchy set of beats. The crashing I’m A Man takes the perspective of a sleazy loser. Closing track Dream Dollar is a chugging bullet-like noise track with a fabulously dark, deep basement. There’s much more to down this inner basement too.
Overall, you wouldn’t call this an easy listen, full, rich, strange and disturbing, but mind-blowingly original and perhaps best digested in small chunks as it seeps into your brain. It certainly seems to capture a collective chaos of the contemporary world. Out on Matador Records.
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