There may be cause to lament the passing of the Electelane of old, the minimal instrumental 60s-psychedelia grrrl post-rock force of their driving debut ‘Rock It To The Moon’. That Electrelane it seems is dead. But then you’d suppose once you’ve made it to the moon, there’s little point just turning around and going home for the anti-climax, is there. What they’ve used it for is a new plateau to launch themselves from, and launch they have. In several directions. Their net was cast wide into the zero-g, collectively reigned in by one additional undeniable characteristic. Voice. There is singing on here, high in the mix, all the way through, just like you might find on a pop record.
Which would make this almost conventional were it not for the fact that Verity Susman has quite the range between bleak, sweet and spiky, she sings in 4 languages (French, German, Spanish, English) and bases one song (‘The Valleys’) around a male voice choir and a poem of the same name by Siegfried Sassoon, sounding much like Kate Bush would fronting a tenor production of Evita in Wales under evening’s half light, we think. If you’re suspecting this sounds like a different band entirely, that’s because in all but name it is. The songs do share a pace and feel with their older counterparts in some places, but it’s inevitable that with vocals taking a lead role there’s not the same requirement for depth and development.
Though they certainly like to remind you how highbrow they are, it’s not all as BBC4 as ‘The Valleys’. The majority revert to the punchier and lower-fi charms of Le Tigre and the riot grrrl movement, perhaps another inevitability. ‘Take The Bit Between Your Teeth’ tumbles raggedly off the guitar like a woozy Sleater Kinney and ‘Enter Laughing’ could nestle amongst the Breeders’ slightest moments. Taking another shuffle left, ‘Gone Under Sea’ and ‘Birds’ have Stereolab’s dry harmonious delivery down to a tee. And in a snakes and ladders approach to vocal scales Verity hits a high on ‘On Parade’, achieving a close vocal representation of a surprised balloon popping very suddenly. A move in the direction of conformity, but only slightly, and a pleasing one at that.