A joyously noisy return of proclamatory, zingy, explosively proggy indie-rock with the first album in 10 years since by the New York guitarist and singer, since 2013’s The Chronicles of Marnia. She’s been busy bringing up two children and being the band guitarist on The Late Show, but the sense of sparky energy is palpable here, from opener Plain Speak’s lyric “I can’t keep on moving backwards,” the fast fretboard Believing Is Seeing, the cross-rhythm frenzy of The Natural, all the way to closer One And The Same. Other highlights include the stop-start Oh Are They and the majestical Working Memory, plus the enjoyable chaos of her cover of Ennio Morricone’s Il Girotondo Della Notte, from the 1972 film Who Saw Her Die?, replicating the orchestral parts with her frenzied guitar playing and stretching out her voice as the choral arrangements. Stern is a consummate shredder with a high, unrestrained voice. As she puts it: “This record is about reassuring yourself that happiness is not about what kind of things you have or how many things you have or what you don’t have—it’s about all the good things you do.” A glorious, infectiously fun indulgence. Out on Joyful Noise Recordings.
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