Celebration - The Modern Tribe (4AD)
4/5
By: Liam Manley
People have been waiting all year for this album, the only problem being that they just didn't know it, or even expect it to be this gorgeously twisted.
Cast aside is the current trend for apocalyptic prophecies and impending doom, vanquished immediately as Katrina Ford's vocals pour through the speakers like a breath of celestial fresh air. Nothing if not 100% assured and confident in its ability to persuade you to come round to their way of thinking, banks of keyboards and swirling Wurlitzers spin their voodoo around the room, as though, Disney-like, they were able to make inanimate objects come to life (if only they could).
Elsewhere, Ford's cooing, keening vocals seem to dance tipsily among the tricksy polyrhythms and rubbery dub basslines, like some graceful yet drunken ballet, echoing 60's psychedelic chanteuses Julie Driscoll and Grace Slick crossed with a Grace Jones you're not quite so scared shitess to fall in love with.
Presumably, much will be made of TV On The Radio's David Sitek's involvement as producer, though less indebted to Bowie's adventures in Berlin than usual and more in tune with later events in post punk, such as The Slits, The Banshees and lesser known entities from NYC's No-Wave scene like Ut.
Peerless as Sitek's work here may be, particularly in making each element as vital as the next, special credit should be paid to Sean Antanaitis who, after Ford on vocals and David Bergander on drums, is accredited here with providing 'everything else', which could include anything from the shimmering, angular yet full-blooded guitars, to the veritable orchestra of synths and organs, not to mention the propulsive bass that grounds everything.
In addition to Sitek, TVOTR's Tunde Adebimpe also makes a welcome, albeit inevitable, appearance, only heightening the confusion on the riddling 'Hands Off My Gold', as he weaves around and in-between Ford's phrasing. Another highlight being Heartbreak's glorious gospel; At their most vulnerable there's still hope and complete confidence that there will come a resolve to the madness and fear surrounding them, employing the use of horns to make even the bleakest of moments sound like a triumph, refusing to give in and accept fate.
The only downside is that when they've taken such care to compose and arrange these songs, displaying such taste and consideration, that they've also decided to present the album in artwork that looks like the result of a bad trip in a caravan curtain factory... that's on fire.
Yet, hideously ill-conceived artwork aside, this is truly an album for lovers.
Stream eight tracks from 'The Modern Tribe' HERE.
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