Electrelane’s debut album, Let’s
Rock It To The Moon (2001), was packed with
raw energy and tension. Developed over eleven dense
instrumentals, the band’s sound was built around
hypnotic bass lines and abrasive guitars and Farfisa
riffs. Heavily influenced by the krautrock movement,
this album reinforced the impression created with their
previous series of EPs that Electrelane were something
of a unique outfit.
Originally formed in Brighton in 1998 around Verity
Susman, Emma Gaze, Mia Clarke and Rachel Dalley, the
band found themselves very much in demand after the
release of their debut album and toured almost constantly
for some time. Three years on, the band returned with
their sophomore album, The Power Out, released
on London-based record label Too Pure. Produced by the
legendary Steve Albini, the album gave the band the
opportunity to develop their sound in a different direction.
Already, the EP I Want To Be The President
featured vocals by Susman, and the album provided a
further opportunity to showcase her deadpan voice, singing
in turn in French, English, German and Spanish on half
of the tracks.
Just a year later on, and following the departure of
Dalley, replaced by Ros Murray, the band appear to return
to some of their earlier instrumental sound with this
third album. Yet, they also once again go into new directions,
pushing the exploration with vocals, more convincing
and assured here, and developing more organic melodic
structures. Once again produced by Albini, Axes
is Electrelane’s more mature record. In a recent
interview with David Stubbs for The Wire, the members
emphasised the importance of a democratic process when
composing to avoid falling into too formulaic melodies
or instrumentations. This is, to a certain extend, taken
to the extreme on Business Or Otherwise, which
captures the band in full free improv mode. If this
could sound somewhat pompous, the result is actually
surprisingly light and elegant, at least in parts, and
when suddenly things appear to fall into place and a
melody takes shape, the synergy between the four members
becomes totally palpable.
Elsewhere, Electrelane toy with a variety of mood, often
referring to the energy of their original recordings
without paraphrasing themselves (Those Pockets Are
People, Gone Darker, Suitcase).
With I Keep Loosing You, Electrelane create
a delicate piece, originally built around a lonely banjo
before additional layers eventually provide a subtle
background for the Chicago A Cappella Choir, already
featured on The Power Out’s The Valleys,
to throw a dense and haunting vocal blanket over. Electrelane
also attempt a cover of Leonard Cohen’s The
Partisan, swapping the original folk mood for incendiary
rock and resolutely reaffirming their own sound in the
process.
Since their first album, Electrelane have brought on
board a vast array of new influences, yet the creative
process still derives remains almost untouched. This
gives the band great diversity and versatility. If The
Power Out proved a bit of a disappointment, Axes
appears to takes the best of its two predecessors and
build up from there, giving it a superb edge and reaffirming
Electrelane as one of Britain’s best leftfield
rock outfits.
4.1/5 |
