STACK #223 May 2023

MUSIC REVIEWS

visit jbhifi.com.au/stack

FEATURE ARTIST

The Amity Affliction Not Without My Ghosts Highly anticipated – and rightly so – The Amity Affliction’s eighth record Not Without My Ghosts presents a clear reminder why this group continue to be one of Australia’s most beloved metalcore acts. Anthemic, dramatic, and always monumental, singer Joel Birch’s vocals take pride of place against a formidable backdrop of crashing percussion and soaring melodies. Cleverly placed features add another vibrant layer to a record which, despite its weight, never lags or feels overwrought. Invigorating and incessantly gripping, Not Without My Ghosts is another colourful feather in the impressive cap of The Amity Affliction. (Warner) Jacqui Picone

The Wombats A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation (15th anniversary pink vinyl) Fifteen years on fromThe Wombats’ stun gun debut, A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation continues to stand as a linchpin of late-'00s indie rock. Chaotic, unexpectedly comedic, and tailormade for sunset slots at festivals, it's a love letter to youth scattered across punching guitars. Setting a snappy, slightly unhinged pace from the outset, this has always been a record meant to test the limits of speakers, and wear dancefloors dangerously thin too. An album that soundtracked so much of a generation’s early forays into adulthood, A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation will always conjure a sense of joy and freedom that can only belong to youth. (Warner) Jacqui Picone

Yaeji With a Hammer NYC-born, Seoul-raised, and Brooklyn-residing musician Yaeji has powered-up her bewitching electronica with this treatise on anger – but it isn't all plates thrown at a wall. On the contrary, it's cheeky but always contemplative, and reveals a lighter touch than Yaeji's previous work; she's following a path towards greater nuance and dynamism, and it's lined with tiny doodles of heart-eyed bears. Singing in both Korean and English, sometimes Yaeji sounds like she's just murmuring to herself in her bedroom, mushroom-mouthed. But then a little harmony will creep in, and the design shows itself; you get the feeling this is what Grimes always aimed to sound like. Though this is expert art-pop, we can tell Yaeji has still more planets she plans to visit. We'll be watching. (XL Recordings/Remote Control) ZKR

XX XXXXX 2023

jbhifi.com.au