The shapeshifting, enigmatic US singer-songwriter Mike Hadreas returns with his distinctive brand of polished, beautiful chamber pop, with themes of the body and its decay, of domesticity and love, identity, and also features a guest appearance by Aldous Harding. His backing band also plays a vital role - Tim Carr, Meg Duffy, Pat Kelly, Jim Keltner, and Greg Uhlmann. These a beautiful, delicate, shimmering songs, exploring various themes of our interior and exterior selves, and also looking to the other side of struggle, where one is left to contend with all that has happened, but also has to learn to live in a still and uncharted place. Opener It’s a Mirror is an immediate opener and standout, with bluesy and country notes and Hadreas’s voice of clarity and fragility, not unlike that of Talk Talk’s Mark Hollis, here seeking to escape terror and find beauty outside of the view. No Front Teeth, with a quite extraordinary video (watch all the way through), features the vocals of another enigmatic artist, New Zealand’s Aldous Harding, starting with a gentle acoustic sound then breaking into heavier rock, something of a fever dream-unhinged, sexually charged, hilarious and riveting, leaving the viewer questioning what is real and what is an aberration. Other highlights include Clean Teeth, the piano-accompanied ballad Me & Angel, the strumming, gentle Full On, the dark, dissonant fizzling electronica of Hanging Out, and the gentle, piano, strings and vocal harmonies of closing title track. A work of bold beautify and vulnerability, as ever full of surprises and exquisite nuance by a unique artist. Out on Matador Records.
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