Warpaint's unerring feel for gauzy hooks and slinky arrangements germinated over a decade and flourished on the quartet's excellent 2014 self-titled album.
But the band has always nudged its arrangements onto the dance floor _ subtly on record, more overtly on stage _ and "Heads Up" (Rough Trade) gives the group's inner disco ball a few extra spins. This is an album influenced as much by contemporary R&B and club music as it is the textured guitars and ambient arrangements of 4AD outfits such as the Cocteau Twins and Throwing Muses that wafted through its earlier albums.
This time, Emily Kokal and Theresa Wayman are as much about keyboards as they are guitars. Drummer Stella Mozgawa blends organic and synthetic rhythms into a matrix of groove, while Jenny Lee Lindberg's bass _ which has always straddled the line between lead and rhythm _ serves as the primary instrumental voice on the bounding "So Good" and the celebratory "New Song." The latter just might be the most irresistible track Warpaint has recorded, fulfilling the promise of "Disco//Very" from its previous album.
This is not to say the group has abandoned its distinctive flair for mainstream homogeneity. On the contrary, the band has become more adept at bringing its love of body music to the forefront and melding it with experimental impulses. Though the title of "Dre" name-checks a certain hip-hop star, the subterranean bass line and reverberating percussion suggest an avant-garde take on R&B that might suit U.K. singer FKA Twigs. "By Your Side" occupies a similarly creepy yet sensual underworld of beats and blips. On the title track, a series of clipped beats coalesces and builds momentum, yet retains a dreamy air.
In this fresh context, the oddest song might also be the most straight-forward: the stark album-closer, "Today Dear." Just as "Disco//Very" pointed the way ahead on the quartet's previous album, "Today Dear" might be a hint of where this ever-restless band might go next.
