I became obsessed with this band's album 'With Love From a Padded Room" to the point that it not only was the number one post-punk album of 2024, but also took fourth place, in the overall best of list, behind 3 of my favorite artists the Cure, Glassing and Taylor Swift, putting them in the top tier of songwriters. This means expectations are high. Rather than conform to expectations on their new album, the band has taken a left turn. It still sounds like them, but rather than the smoky blues noir that set the tone of the last album, there are more synths at the forefront. This is not blindsiding you as they did similar on songs like "Lipstick With No Lips" on the last album; it just takes things a step further in that direction, so I am going to break this album down into a song by song review to fully grasp what is happening here. Before we begin, this is a concept album of sorts about Bella Pink, an online sex worker, who descends into madness.
"Mr. Sentimental"
This song took a second listen to click with me. It's sonically heavy with a dense, shimmering atmosphere. It's sonically heavy, and the intensity is not as brooding. Tony Castrati's voice is just as commanding as it was on the last album, though the more melodic vocals sit back into the wall of sound.
"Saran Wrapped Cash"
Hookier than the first song, the vocals are well-layered. The vocals find a more gripping melody even though they sit back in the reverb of a dark hallway, but it allows the mood to organically flow, and an emotional heaviness to drift in. It's also darker than the first song, which appeals to me. The synths are really well done, creating a nightmarish haze.
"LADIES NIGHT"
Here Tony's baritone muttering sounds like he jsut woke up in a dance club with a hangover that is making his depression worse, but the disco urges are beginning to overcome him. Almost Cure-like guitar haunts the song, before things get confrontational.
"Pay Pigs"
At this point, the theme of the album has unfolded. Things gather a creepy menace as Tony rants in a more abstract manner as the storm builds. A bigger, more cavernous sound overtakes this song, which is heavier than the previous album.
"bedrot"
This song is full of self-loathing and blends the synth ambiance that is shifting in prominence with the album with the kind of scathing yet catchy songwriting that makes this band so endearing to me. The synths shift the mood from the more post-punk feel of the last album to the more romanticized scorn of goth.
"MONET"
I like the tension this song grooves with. The vocals are more venomous. Yet, they still allow themselves room for the ebb and flow of dynamics. Even more goth in the picture of sound it paints than the previous song.
"Pretty In Pink"
The vocals to this one are almost pop hooky, but also sit back into a wall of reverb, which makes them more of a texture. The drummer is really stepping it up on this album, and you gotta give Castrati credit for switching things up, and not replicating his previous performances. There is almost a shoe-gazing feel to the atmosphere built here.
"Pliers"
He drops down into a raspy whisper, going into this one, as the music bubbles up around him. Once again, they seem to be able to take you into progressively darker back alleys of their mind. Things float off into an abstract jam. Luxury Skin's Juliet Gordon lends her voice to this song, and there are other layers of female vocals cropping up that I am going to assume are hers as I have not seen any credit to suggest otherwise yet.
"screentime"
This is more like an atmospheric interlude than a song
"I Have a Key to Your House"
There is a more traditional rock structure to this one, though it is filtered through their dark and depressing perspective, but an explosive chorus. I would expect this to be the lead single if they are trying to reach a broader audience, but such things are mundane concerns to these guys.
"Camgirl"
The title track opens in a confrontational manner and ebbs down into a more electronic pulse a minute and a half in. Imagine if the National took too many drugs and lost their minds, the results might be similar if they fell into the darkest corners of their psychotic musings. They are reaching the point of experimentation here that brings them to a place not unlike Swans or Xiu Xiu. It's not the catchiest song, but the range of dynamics it shifts from compensates for this.
"Sweet Talk"
This one builds up from a deep subterranean sound into an outpouring of passionate anger.
"TARAVISTA"
The album's simplest but most melodically powerful songs with the grace that flows so beautifully.
"Mary Kate and Ashley"
This song wraps up all the element that makes this band who they are and delivers them in a way that honors this new direction and what you loved about them in the past. The chilling, clean guitar tones are darker and more powerful. Things get pretty intense on this one.
"despair"
The last song pulls things together in a very convincing manner; they drone on the sing-song melody that Tony is prone to conjure and soar off into the night with it.
I will give this album a 10 as it powerfully pulls together darkness with an often lighter atmosphere, but blends it into an alluring album that delivers what you want from these guys.
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