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A compilation of writeups mainly dealing with album of the week reviews
Mess Esque - Jay Marie, Comfort Me
My friend recently got an app that gives you a new word per day. One of the words they told me was “amble”, meaning “to walk or move at a slow, relaxed pace.” Everyone ambles, and if you don’t – you should.
Mess Esque wants you to drop everything and succumb to this notion of wandering. Their new album, Jay Marie, Comfort Me feels like a constant exploration of uncharted territory. It’s a rainy afternoon, drenched concrete sidewalks enveloping your feet, ambling towards a destination you don’t know, in a city you’ve never been in.
Helen Franzmann and Mick Turner are Mess Esque. The former also makes music as McKisko, the latter is guitarist of legendary band Dirty Three. Drawing on this lineage of meandering, DIY Aus indie/post rock, both show a comfort in straying from the beaten path. ‘Crow’s Ash Tree’ pulls you into a meditative state, violins and guitars keeping pace. ‘Liminal Space’s’ guitar feels like a song about to be born, trying out different licks and progression till one fits the part.
There’s also a touch of jazz improvisation throughout the album; each instrument building off each other, guiding itself towards an undecided end. When the songs on Jay Marie, Comfort Me end, they end unexpectedly; not abrupt, nor sudden, but natural.
aya - hexed!
Some music you feel, even before it hits your ears. aya's hexed! is like a big block of rusted steel; hitting, constantly pounding your chest.
aya is originally from Huddersfield, England: a small town that I imagine has a local pub with retirees sipping a pint, waiting for the inevitable Sunday bingo. But peace and tranquility is far from the listening experience of hexed!. It’s an escape from mundanity, not a quiet tip-toe but a burn everything in your way; till the ground itself is barren, pitch black. Sure you can relax — it’ll just have to be amongst dissonant screams and metallic scratches.
hexed! is a cold shower: startling, but refreshing too. Despite its gritty and aggressive textures, it's hypnotizing. Guttural sounds slither in and out, alongside stretched out synths and SOPHIE-esque metallic drums. Even the slower parts of the album, that don’t necessarily sonically hammer you, feel like an eerie soundtrack to a horror movie. ‘The Petard is my Hosier’ feels like a track off an H.P. Lovecraft adaptation, where a leviathan stares at you from afar, and you don’t know whether to run or accept your fate. ‘peach’ utters witch-like chants over a layer of disgruntled drones, enchanting you to face this ugly reality.
That’s hexed!: an album that turns a mouthful of worms into a nice Sunday roast.
Words by Rafael Enriquez