Fluxblog Weekly #21: Sexwitch, Chvrches, Kurt Vile, Julia Holter, Disclosure/Lorde
Well, the good news for survey fans is that the 1989 mix will be coming next week, probably Tuesday or Wednesday. It's coming along well, and I think it will be a very interesting experience for everyone who listens to it.
In the meantime, here's this week's posts. This week is unusually rich with notable new releases, and there's stuff coming out today that I won't even get to for a while. I think the Sexwitch and Chvrches records in particular are two of the best albums to come out in 2015, so please do give them some attention.
September 21st, 2015
A Thousand Kisses
Sexwitch “Ha Howa Ha Howa”
Natasha Khan describes herself as a perfectionist, and you can hear that in Bat for Lashes’ music – it’s not overly fussy, but it is very intentional and precise. This is part of why her songs can be so emotionally devastating; she makes every feeling and mood sound so incredibly accurate. Khan is moving away from that in Sexwitch, and to a large extent that comes from interpreting other artists’ work. All of the tracks are adaptations of old, mostly forgotten psychedelic records from around the world. Their versions of these songs aren’t exact replicas; it’s more about using them as a map to get to a particular vibe, and loosely translating the lyrics to unlock something in Khan. The result is intense, wild, and unreservedly sexual. “Ha Howa Ha Howa” is pure lust from the rhythm on up to Khan’s vocals, which range from orgasmic wails to breathy, ritualistic chanting. The main lyric here is “he addicted me with a thousand kisses, and I addicted him,” and in context it’s a description of seduction that is itself totally seductive. It’s all very loose and you can really get a sense of Khan giving in to the music, but the funny thing is, it’s just as precise in invoking a specific emotion as anything else she’s done.
Buy it from Amazon.
September 22nd, 2015
Never Quite Learning Why
Chvrches “Clearest Blue”
I’ve been trying to figure out what it is about Lauren Mayberry’s voice that is so compelling for a while now, and I think I’ve got it: It’s all in the way she projects this assertive confidence while also allowing herself to seem transparently vulnerable. This is especially powerful because most of her lyrics come across like one half of an argument or discussion, so she always sounds like a person who is very emotionally invested in a relationship or friendship, but isn’t willing to give up too much of herself and is able to see things very clearly. I love the certainty in her voice, and the way the clean, bright tone of it cuts through the metallic timbre of the sort of keyboard and drum machine settings the band favors.
The particular effect of Chvrches songs isn’t so much in the contrast of Mayberry’s voice and the rest of the music, but in how similar they are. The music never undermines her, and the overall sound is very unified in its forthrightness. Mayberry’s shifts in mood and sentiment are directly mirrored by the contours of the track – listen to how the nagging doubt at the start of “Clearest Blue” gradually transforms into ecstatic physicality as her voice becomes more emphatic, culminating in this joyful and cathartic instrumental break in the final third of the track. That break is one of the most incredible things I’ve heard in music this year; it’s the kind of sound that just jolts you alive and makes life feel exciting and full of possibility. I love that this feeling comes in a song that’s mostly about Mayberry trying to figure out where she stands with someone in the middle of some crisis. There’s a lot of ways you can respond to a crisis, but this is definitely the most optimistic and thrilling.
Buy it from Amazon.
September 23rd, 2015
I’d Much Rather Levitate
Kurt Vile “Lost My Head There”
“Lost My Head There” is a song about dealing with “bugging’ out” and “funky psychosis,” but you just don’t feel those vibes at all in the music. This is about as laid-back and easy-going as it gets, with Kurt Vile singing his lines with a smirky stoner drawl over a crisp beat and a loose piano groove. But this isn’t really a song about an existing mental state so much as the one you aspire to when you’re freaking out. Vile sings about the creative process in self-deprecating terms – “I was feeling worse than the words came out / fell on some keys, and this song walked out of me” – but he’s acknowledging how making art can be something that can take you away from yourself rather than just display your worst feelings. He’s tired and feeling down, and he’d “much rather levitate.” I think he gets reasonably close to levitating in this song.
Buy it from Amazon.
September 24th, 2015
Charm Unawakened Souls
Julia Holter “Sea Calls Me Home”
“Sea Calls Me Home” is a song about “getting away from it all” and finding some peace and clarity on the water, but it’s also not quite as simple as that. There’s a strange, ambiguous feeling to the music – pleasant, but still uncertain. For one thing, the character says she can’t swim. That’s an issue, maybe. But the real emotional punch of the song is when she sings “it’s lucidity, so clear!,” and then there’s just this feeling of “OK, and then what?” It can be so hard to know what to do with a nice feeling. The second verse has her pledging to “forget all the rules I’ve known,” but she’s still grounding that in some practical details. You can escape places, but maybe not the mundane trappings of life.
Buy it from Amazon.
September 25th, 2015
Through Half-Shut Eyes
Disclosure featuring Lorde “Magnets”
There’s a lot of songs about cheating, or being the other man/woman, but I like the particular tension in this one. Lorde is basically singing about going after a coupled person and knowing it’s the ~wrong~ thing to do, but enjoys feeling like she has some sexual power, and can’t help but get excited about it. The really potent line in this song is “pretty girls don’t know the things that I know,” which you can unpack in many ways but every time, it’s from the point of view of someone who’s internalized the idea that they aren’t sexually attractive. Disclosure’s track keeps the mood sexy, but subtly tense and unstable – you get the feeling of excitement, but also the nerves and nagging conscience. When she sings a line like “let’s embrace the point of no return,” it’s like someone playing a role, and trying out an identity to see if it fits. If you change the tone a bit, this scene can easily be played as a comedy.
Buy it from Amazon.