The music Liars make isn’t the easiest to get into. The bands use of textures and rhythm has an obsessive-compulsive quality that makes them sound regularly irregular. As if to accentuate their peculiarity, with each new album Liars choose to completely reinvent their sound. This approach allows them to embark on new creative challenges and find new ways of expressing artistic themes, making their discography a genre hopping tour de force. On the evidence of No.1 Against The Rush, the first single from their new record WIXIW, the band show no sign of settling just yet.
In a recent interview the bands chief songwriters, Andrew Angus and Aaron Hemphill, admitted that WIXIW was emotionally fueled by the beginning and end of the two’s respective relationships. It’s a clever theme, as there is an undeniable duality between the two states of union. A duality in which uncertainty holds sway, where you’re kept awake a night wondering about what to do next. Where to go on the second date? What can I do to keep them from slipping away? It’s this sickly unease that No.1 Against The Rush deftly replicates.
By recording the new album using primarily modern electronic methods and eschewing the familiarity of the analogue instruments, Liars have engineered the perfect sonic palette to express this anxiety. For fans, this change is disarming, but in a good way, as it’s made Liars more accessible than ever. Initially, it may seem that this accessibility has come at the cost of the creativity for which they’re famed, but after multiple listens No.1 Against The Rush reveals it’s secrets. Taking little time for its meticulous arrangement of throbbing bass, sweeping synths and rotating blips to hit home with waves of unease that reverberate in the psyche. Proving that despite taking steps towards a more accessible sound, Liars remain one of the most challenging and exciting bands around.
The excellently creepy music video is below:
No comments:
Post a Comment