Rhythmically complex, and restlessly clever, the latest release by California’s Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner wrestles with a variety of issues from gentrification to gender privilege and climate disaster. Inspired also by 60s soul to 80s R&B, Afrobeat and some of the ridiculously high notes of Minnie Riperton, this is an album of musical gymnastics that is stimulating, if not always relaxing or necessarily fun to listen to, but is always admirably in its scope and dynanism. The standout tracks are the brilliantly inventive and high-pitched, male-baiting Nowhere Man, previously highlighted on our New Songs section, and Hold Yourself, which inverts the parent-child relationship (“parents are children”) with a beautiful melody and shuffling rhythm. Homewrecker seems to be simultaneously about an individual and organisations, such as building developers who kill communities, and has some extraordinary musical playfulness. Silence Pt. 1’s strength is Garbus’s vocal overdubbed harmonies, while Hypnotized, delving into mixes cleverly evolving rhythms and basslines with voice. Closing track Be Not Afraid is a buzzy stomp of wobbly oddness. Always innovative, challenging and original. Out on 4AD.
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