Over the course of nearly a decade, we have on more than one occasion gushed about how UK outfit Wild Beasts were top-shelf purveyors of erudite indie-rock. Even though they regrettably called it quits in 2017, they remain one of the very few rock bands who managed to strike an impeccable balance between indie and art-rock. Ranging from baroque to barbaric, their five-album discography charts leftfield territories with strutting confidence. Not many rock bands are able to incorporate geeky literary allusions into their songwriting and still look pretty damn cool doing it.
Wild Beasts may have closed their chapter, but it's not over for frontman Hayden Thorpe, who begins a new journey as a solo artist with his debut full-length, Diviner. The lead-up to its release came earlier this year in the form of the title track and Love Crimes. The former is a stark piano ballad equipped with typical Thorpian lyrical flourishes ("I'm a keeper of secrets/ Pray do tell/ I'll be your disciple/ Show yourself"); the latter picks up the pace slightly with lurching piano chords built around a Bonnie and Clyde narrative ("I'm balaclava'ed/ I'm dressed in stripes/ You in your cape and tights"). Stylistically, these mark a new direction for the singer, light years away from Wild Beasts.
The rest of the record continues to exist in this pared down soundscape, featuring little more than piano and Thorpe's singular vocals (some have even gone as far as calling it an "acquired taste"). Occasionally, there are other sonic elements at play, whether it's the muted jazz elements of Straight Lines, the electronic undercurrents of Earthly Needs and Human Knot or the understated strings of Anywhen. Some of the most memorable moments can be found on In My Name, a stirring ballad reminiscent of Anohni, and Spherical Time, an instrumental piece exploring ambient electronica.
Quotable lyrics: "How does that word feel in your mouth?/ Do you want to spit it out?" (Earthly Needs).
The verdict: If restraint is a virtue, Diviner is packed full of sublime goodness.
Listen to this: Diviner, Love Crimes, In My Name and Spherical Time.
THE PLAYLIST
The S.L.P. (Feat. Little Simz) / Favourites
This year may have already churned out a handful of certified bangers, but let's be honest, things are a little quiet on that old "unlikely pairing" front. Which brings us to Favourites, a fantastic unanticipated collaboration between S.L.P. (aka Sergio Lorenzo Pizzorno, Kasabian's lead guitarist) and UK rapper Little Simz. Taken from the former's solo project, the breakbeat-driven tune tells a very modern tale about a fairly disappointing Tinder date. "Now I don't know why I swiped it/ Now I dosn't know what to do/ Now I've got to spend my evening sitting here with you," Pizzorno rues. Meanwhile, things aren't going swell for the lady across the table either -- "This date is a slow burn… Forcing a connection is a no no/ Plus you look taller in your profile pic," Little Simz sasses him right back. Such fun!
PJ Harvey / The Crowded Cell
"I'm in a crowded cell/ The super calls my name/ He shoves me in a room/ He calls two soldiers in," PJ Harvey begins on this song from the soundtrack to the new four-part series, The Virtues, with the energy of a top-shelf storyteller that she's always been. It's a brilliant opening to a song (or anything really). Why is she in a crowded cell? Why is the super calling, not one, but two soldiers in? "Behind it sits a man/ Fingernails are on the floor/ He laughs and asks, 'What kind of freedom do you want?'" she expands on the existing suspense, singing with her trademark sprechgesang over bareboned electric guitar and drums.
Russian Circles / Arluck
You know that dilemma when you're fed up hearing words being sung on a song, so you put on an instrumental piece, then remember that most instrumental pieces just bore you even more? Enter Russian Circles, a Chicago-based post-metal trio who make the kind of wordless music that's as cathartic as it is electrifying. Emerging from a three-year hiatus following 2016's Guidance, Mike Sullivan, Dave Turncrantz and Brian Cook serve up the new track Arluck, officially heralding the release of their forthcoming seventh studio album, Blood Year. The six-minute-plus song opens with classic roaring drums, shadowed by exhilarating guitar riffs and basslines. The arrangement here is tight, despite the mid-track breakdown which eventually builds the tension back up and takes it to the finish line.
Da Endorphine / Chan Young Yu
If variety is the spice of life, the Thai mainstream music scene has been lacking a little bit of zing lately. It seems like the listener is either stuck with the inexplicable popularity of rap/trap/hip-hop or the persistent fixation on the whole 80s throwback (looking at you, Polycat). Built on a vintage soft-rock instrumentation, Da Endorphine's new single Chan Young Yu [I'm Still Here], lead cut off her upcoming record Damatic (get it?) merrily revels in the latter camp. "I'm still here/ Will always be here taking care of you," she offers over a pretty piano motif that's vaguely reminiscent of Meat Loaf's beast of a song I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That).
Soundwalk Collective With Patti Smith / Tutuguri: The Rite Of Black Night
Soundwalk Collective (Stephan Crasneanscki and Simone Merli) reunite with punk grand dame Patti Smith on their new collaborative album The Peyote Dance, whose title is taken from French poet Antonin Artaud's book of the same name. A follow-up to Ivry and The New Revelations Of Being, third single Tutuguri: The Rite Of Black Night continues to capture Artaud's poetic visions and the landscapes that inspired them through Smith's visceral spoken word. The Peyote Dance kicks off a triptych of albums scheduled for release over the next year, inspired by Antonin Artaud, Arthur Rimbaud and René Daumal respectively.
