STACK #196 Feb 2021

MUSIC REVIEWS

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Odette Herald

Bicep Isles Longtime online curators, Bicep - Belfast's finest DJ/producer duo - added FeelMyBicep Radio shows (Apple Music) to their tastemaker profile from October, 2020. This pair create choons that artfully burrow into the grey matter, making us feel, reminisce and process while pulling shapes (and gurning). Apricots is tribal-meets-chillout - minimal, emotive and somehow encapsulating diaspora - while Sundial 's vocal melody calls to mind Aquarius from Hair . If you're on the dancefloor when the DJ flexes Bicep, you'll wanna be wearing a T-shirt that reads "Shut Up, I'm Dancing!"; plus trippy, kaleidoscopic sunnies. Heck, you'll probably even wind up having subliminal conversations with the ghosts of your ancestors to boot! At once worldly and deferential, Isles is therapy for the mind and bod alike. (NinjaTune) Bryget Chrisfield

While Odette’s second album - the follow-up to 2018’s massive breakthrough To A Stranger - is musically striking from the start, with stirring string and piano arrangements dancing around each other, it starts throwing real weight with I Miss You I’m Sorry . An eviscerating admission of guilt/accusation of wrongdoing, it captures the inescapable ways people haunt and torture each other during and after a breakup. This is the theme of the record in a nutshell; not for the faint- or broken- hearted, whether it’s in spoken word (like the intro to Feverbreak . Should Odette release a solemn rap record a la Ill Manors? Absolutely) or orchestral melodrama, Herald will ruin you like only another person can (EMI) Jake Cleland

Illy The Space Between Skip-hop’s nice boy Illy has always felt just a bit overlooked. Whether a victim of timing (local rap tastes shifting from suburban white boys to BIPOC celebration) or youth (not having been already entrenched) or lack of drama (god, he won’t even write songs about exes because he “has too much love and respect” for them), Illy’s technical

competence overshadows his acclaim. Slinking effortlessly between styles (peep the winking “I can’t really feel my face” on Weeknd-ish Codes , percussive funk on Last Laugh , anthemic pop-punk via the WAAX collab on Cheap Seats ) as different outfits for fractal wordplay, The Space Between shows Illy at his most comfortable and confident. If anything falls flat, it’s the few moments of critical persecution rap, lamenting The Haters while Illy is… if not the biggest rapper of all time, at least roundly well-liked. But the utility of rap is not its authenticity but its fantasy; Illy might not literally have gone from “not having a pot to piss in to pissing off every Aussie rap critic” but offers you catharsis about the allegorical Aussie rap critics in your own life. All the better, though, when on the sombre title track he charts the journey from nobody to somebody, a relatable experience that hews a little closer to truth. Accessible even while he quietly innovates, if you think you’ve got anyone who could take Illy on so many different grounds, check this out and think again. (Sony) Jake Cleland

Sheppard Kaleidoscope Eyes

Julien Baker Little Oblivions

Tennessee-based Julien Baker, known for using the guitar as her primary instrument, launches into Little Oblivions with the sound of an organ, signalling a shift in sound on her third solo record. The quality and scope of production has increased, however Baker’s emotive songwriting remains her greatest asset as she writes about everyday life with a striking poetry. Lyrics about running late and bloody knees are sung with a casual grace on Heatwave , while tracks Repeat and Highlight Reel express Baker’s experiences with anxiety in visceral detail. It’s easy to forget – considering her emotional and musical maturity – that Baker is just 25 years old, though no doubt she is an artist that will only continue to grow with every release. (Matador/Remote Control) Holly Pereira

“Even if we die young, they will remember us … we had a damn good run,” George Sheppard declares on his family band’s third album. And there’s no doubt their anthemic pop will find a happy home on classic hits radio. Not that the Brisbane band is calling it quits. This is their most ambitious work yet. Two months out from launch, they had already released 12 – yes, 12 – singles from the record. This is a concept album of sorts, looking at love through a kaleidoscope, where things can change in the blink of an eye, from longing to bliss, acceptance to denial. Yes, Sheppard are not reinventing any wheels thematically or sonically, but there’s no denying they work damn hard at their craft, creating exultant pop. (MGM) Jeff Jenkins

Sarah Mary Chadwick Me And Ennui Are Friends, Baby

In 2020 I watched six consecutive seasons of the History Channel show Alone . In a house, on a couch, sometimes with a take away meal, I watched trained survivalists filming themselves in complete isolation, trying to stay warm, fed, hydrated, and safe from natural predators. It was hypnotising. The weeks

passed, seasons changed, temperatures dropped, animals migrated, fish disappeared. And ennui opened up like a sinkhole swallowing the earth. The only thing that didn't change was the loneliness, hunger, and boredom. The shock of facing inward. If you didn't make peace, you didn't make it, and you're on a satellite phone booking the next helicopter out. It was always the same, in Vancouver Island, Mongolia, or the Arctic Circle. The title of Sarah Mary Chadwick's seventh album makes mention of this existential state. There's humour, but there's also assurance in the phrase "Me and Ennui are friends, Baby." Sarah is a skilled surveyor of our stark internal landscapes. She's confronted the inescapable truth, and is reconciled. Even friends with it. These vivid new songs form the conclusion of a trilogy of albums, that began with The Queen Who Stole The Sky and includes Please Daddy of last year. They're deeply moving and illuminating piano-led ballads; solo arrangements, with all the strength and wisdom of the world behind them. (Rice Is Nice) SimonWinkler

22 FEBRUARY 2021

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