STACK #164 June 2018

MUSIC REVIEWS

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Neko Case Hell-On

TT LoveLaws In Hitchcock's iconic film Rear Window we look onto the courtyard of a city apartment shown the intertwined and disconnected days and nights of neighbours living intimately alone. Theresa Wayman loves, and quotes, the film in LoveLaws – the Warpaint musician's first solo release. It's an ideal cinematic reference for an album that draws disparate stories and separate sonic threads into a unified look at human relationships. As the record pans through downtempo, atmospheric rock, and electronic pop styles, TT zooms in on many forms of love and lovelessness with the skill and subtlety of a great director. (Caroline) SimonWinkler block. Spying through a telescopic lens, we're

"Sometimes where there's smoke, it's just a smoke machine, honey," sings Neko Case on Gumball Blue . But for this celebrated American artist, smoke always signals fire. Hell-On burns with the best of Case's craft: smouldering country-noir ballads, fiery folktales and incandescent pop-rock anthems, lyrics like flickering flames against the darkness. The title track tells us "God is a lusty tyre fire/ Its bristles scrape and strike the stage/ A rock- paper-scissors rage." This elemental force fuels the entire record, written "from a feeling of solidarity with folks who feel alone or isolated," Neko says in a press release. "I think I’m trying to comfort people in this way.” Joining Case here to spread warmth and inspiration are friends and collaborators Beth Ditto, Mark Lanegan, k.d. Lang, AC Newman, and Laura Veirs among others. (ANTI-) SimonWinkler

Hatchie Sugar & Spice EP

I like my pop music like I like my popcorn – a little bit sweet and a little bit salty. Brisbane songwriter Harriette Pilbeam provides both on her new EP Sugar & Spice . Centered around themes of love (sometimes unrequited), desire and helplessness, the handful of shoegaze-soaked tracks are full

of sparkling melodies, sassiness and honesty, led by Pilbeam’s dreamy vocal that sits somewhere between HAIM and Beach House. Opener Sure explores the collapse of a poisonous relationship, the nostalgic '80s synths in Sleep tussle with euphoria and vulnerability, while title track Sugar & Spice has Pilbeam optimistically dreaming of recourse in a waning relationship: “But maybe we could still outlast it,” she sings over fuzzed-out guitars. Debut single Try is an intimate diary entry, and album closer Bad Guy is a hypothetical prophecy of the straw that broke the camel’s back. (Ivy League)Tim Lambert

Head to stack.com.au for more interviews, live reviews, news and superb galleries featuring snaps like those below, captured byTim Lambert across the last month.

Clockwise from top left: Peking Duk, The Smith Street Band, Bec Sandridge, Press Club.

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JUNE 2018

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