JELLYMEAT HEART

The Chills assembled for a triumphant tour in 2016, hot on the tails of Auckland Museum’s recent exhibition ‘Volume: Making Music In Aotearoa’. The exhibition showcases The Chills as mainstays of the ‘Dunedin Sound’ glory days, and includes late drummer Martyn Bull’s cherished Leather Jacket, of ‘I Love My Leather Jacket’ fame. As of their October 21st Bodega gig that I attended, their current touring line-up is led by original front man Martin Phillipps, with a band of diversely talented musicians. Honouring their musical legacy with a live performance as polished and crisp as they ever were, the audience was treated to a set list speckled with newer material from their most recent album Silver Bullets (released 2015, the first full length record in nineteen years). This incarnation of The Chills proves to be a band for die-hard fans, as well as a new generation of listeners. The more recent material is of the same high quality as their back catalogue, proving their relevance with the undeniable magic found in The Chills sound. Phillipps’ is somewhat bashful and self-deprecating between songs, a stark contrast to the luminescent, buoyant sound of their most celebrated tracks. However, this foot-shuffling demeanour washes away as soon as the music begins. With an armoury of time-tested tracks, as shimmering and effervescent as they were when first poured onto the air waves thirty years ago, a concentrated admiration fills the crowd – the mellow atmosphere of the audience allowing fans to stand back, and drink in the songs they’ve held dear for so long.'

‘Ocean Eyes’ takes a more melancholic approach, proving Billie has more to offer than lyrical shock-tactics. This sparse, beautiful track, showcases the young musician’s stunning vocal talents. Written originally for her dance teacher, the song is fluid and rich sonically. Rewardingly enough, there’s a dance performance music video to accompany ‘Ocean Eyes’, which proves Billie Eilish to be a performer right down to her bones; just as hypnotizing as a dancer as she is as a musician.

With the infinite Frank Ocean lending his writing abilities for this track, ‘My Willing Heart’ has become a fast favourite in James Blake’s discography.

Mabel McVey, daughter of veritable music legends Neneh Cherry, and Cameron McVey (producer for Massive Attack), isn’t yet out of her teen years and already sings with a such a soulful tone, slick like wax, far beyond her time on earth so far. On her standout single ‘Thinking Of You’, Mabel comes in strong and fierce vocally, while her lyrics emote a universally familiar confusion, ready-made for teenage love’s most starry-eyed and genuine intensity. Mabel created her sound and perfected her musical image entirely of her own devices, wanting to be known as more than the product of musical greats – and this track demands the listener takes her seriously, as an individual artist of note. The drums kick in, and we realize Mabel knows what she’s doing, there is an exactness to the sound she’s after. The songs vulnerability remains cool and in control, coming off more cute than crazed. Immediately comparable to the early 00s hit ‘Tell Me How You Feel’ by Joy Enriquez, without being an all out copycat attempt. ‘Thinking Of You’ is a song that’s fully matured stylistically, and with heavy notes of playful coyness, it doesn’t flatten itself by trying to be too serious. The urge to immediately replay this track is strong.

Noname, born Fatimah Warner, certified child of the 90s, dropped one of the most lush albums of last year – ‘Telefone’. It’s an exciting time for hip-hop right now, much quality to be found in new releases, with variety abound. The only potential downside of this is that some of the truly quality artists release true masterpieces that are too soon swept away by the tide, before receiving the praise they deserve. In light of that, please trust me on this – don’t sleep on this record. A cheeky, confident lyricist, Noname narrates an intricate, late-summer throwback scene on ‘Diddy Bop’. For those of you that weren’t there at the time, the ‘Diddy Bop’ was a dance move created by P Diddy back in the 90s, further adding to the authenticity of this songs nostalgia trip. With nothing derivative about her sound, Noname evokes quality moments of the interminable Lauryn Hill’s ‘Every Ghetto, Every City’ in the best way – traversing an adolescent cityscape with bright eyes wide with possibility. An impossibly catchy bridge to chorus one-two punch will have this track stuck in your head for days.

Modern life doesn’t generally accommodate an album that is both so immediately anthemic, and wholly rewarding for the listener from start to finish. We are primed for instant pleasure, our attention spans worn raw and short by the consumption of a thousand-thousand new, thrilling people, things, and sounds. Jeff Rosenstock approaches this stalemate with measured intellect, relatability, and carefree, exhausted joy. "Worry", Rosenstock’s third solo record is so complete and accessible, that it's newness is almost a shock. Subject matter plays with the familiar twenty-something folly of finding oneself directionless and alone, romantic unease, and topical ennui of being young and sold to (”Born as a data mine for targeted marketing”, on ‘To Be A Ghost’). Musically it combines 'flavour notes' of Jesse Lacey’s early pop punk lyricism, set to Weezer’s ‘Blue Album’ musicianship, paired with Joyce Manor's more golden moments of pop sensibility. Not often am I left chewing over an album so enjoyable, that I mimic a five year old child picking a favourite colour when tasked with deciding on a standout track - but I genuinely can't pick. 'Blast Damage Days' is a lush, garage-y, promise of humble but ferocious, eternal love. 'Wave Goodbye To Me' is cheap beer, good friends, and shirking life’s responsibilities with fist-pumping aplomb in the face of myriad ensuing anxieties. It's anticipation and frustrated energy, fueled by a life of unfulfilled potential. 'Bang On The Door' is a tongue in cheek tantrum, instantly relatable to anybody that's ever lived next door to/downstairs/across the road from a party of assholes that think they're the next spirit of 24 Hour Party People, not the pathetic inhabitants of a damp lounge in a student flat.  Also, of note is ‘Rainbow’, which bursts into a ska rhythm that wouldn’t be out of place on the 10 Things I Hate About You OST. Initially this musical choice seemed straight up bizarre to me, because who in 2017 is playing ska?! Turns out, Rosenstock cut his teeth on the ska circuit, so this makes complete sense. I can’t help but enjoy the track, because despite not being a committed ska fan myself, it’s enjoyably contrasting to the majority of releases currently, and has instant throwback appeal.   I hope the takeaway of this review is that ‘Worry’ is thoroughly deserving of committing an afternoon of listening to. All your favourite songs are here, you just didn’t know it yet. 

The modern world’s most well respected weirdo, Thundercat, recently released his new album ‘Drunk’ to much fanfare. The album is seemingly a soundscape to the journey through time and space one takes during the various stages of inebriation on a night out.  Pet of the soul, r’n’b, blues, and funk scenes, Thundercat is frequently lauded as the new voice for these genres, and while I can understand the excitement that is found in a newly popular artist with a vice grip on the velvet tones of days of yore, this album leaves me wanting.  The stand out track for me, ‘Them Changes’, was featured on his 2015 EP ‘The Beyond / Where the Giants Roam’, and doesn’t seem to have received any further treatment (not that it needed it). ‘Them Changes’ confidently struts, bassline-first, through it’s entirety with such surety that it wouldn’t be out of place sharing the airwaves with such greats as Bill Withers, Donny Hathaway, Curtis Mayfield. To compare Thundercat’s sound on this track to anything more modern wouldn’t do justice to the lush integrity of the recording.  Exuding cool, compelling in it’s self confident lyrics regarding the lore of love, Thundercat navigates the urgent nature of a confused heart with eloquent direction.  Despite the above praise for this track, ‘Drunk’ as a whole let me down. If this album is a bleary eyed night on the gas - it includes the genuinely unlikeable traits of a sloppy drunk, too. As the record progresses, it swings from being considered, groovy, and fresh sounding, to edging into the genuinely unlikeable territory of waxing poetic about ‘The Friendzone’ at length (in my opinion, anybody who entertains the concept of the friendzone generally needs to take up a new hobby, or commit more time to volunteer work).  Moments of enjoyment can be found on tracks where Thundercat indulges that which he loves - on ‘A Fan’s Mail’ we hear Thundercat flex his playful side as perhaps the only current artist to be critically acclaimed with a song leaning heavily on rhythmic ‘meow’s, stating it’s ‘cool to be a cat’.  ‘Drunk’ holds such promise for future records, but unfortunately this album wasn’t the soulful masterpiece I had hoped it would be. 

Happy Diving are a band that have been in my periphery via label sampler playlists for a couple of years now, however nothing before their new record 'Electric Soul Unity' announced their sound clearly enough for me to pay attention. The tongue-in-cheek album title marries up perfectly with the 'sensitive slacker' motifs that make Happy Diving so immediately affable. Simple, fuzzy, pop sensibility, applied to a soundscape evocative of driving around in your best friend's car, with the windows down, on the last day of summer. The 'quiet-loud-quiet' timbre applied to their standout track 'Head Spell' slots the single into instant classic territory, alongside textbook alt-pop favourites of the genre defining greats from the 90s. 

This is an effort in beginnings. 

Artist spotlight: Shakes - March 23rd 2017  http://www.nzgirl.co.nz/read-watch-listen/read-watch-listen-cure-post-summer-blues-post-summer-grooves-supplied-shakes-new-single-waiting-feeling/