Soulwax - 'Any Minute Now' (PIAS)
3/5
By: Toby L
Fancy a headache? Scrutinize the artwork for 'Any Minute Now' - headf**k visual illusionism that masks, within a series of intricate dot and line sequences, a whole bludgeoning of words and imagery related to bonkers Belgian indie-synthers Soulwax.
Want a remedy? Don't listen to what the packaging encases. Soulwax, somewhere along the line, have morphed into a terrifying, paranoid modern pop combo. That is to say, their warped spin on 'the song' is about as settling as the notion of Freddy Kruger humping your grandmother.
For, after creating the minor cult masterpiece 'Much Against Everyone's Advice', and forging an even more successful career as bootlegging disc-jockey pioneers, 2 Many DJs, the quartet have done what is technically known as going off on one. Songs segue into distant, underwater orchestrations; chord-changes prove as subtle as major bridges collapsing; and the overriding sense of the whole affair is that of bitter, apocalyptical weariness: a band whose disgust with its surroundings could only have resulted in a work as complex, foreboding and uncompromising as such a second LP.
But is it any good? It is actually. But it's not landmark. In their pursuit of obscurity this time 'round, Soulwax have lost much of the charm that flawed us with their first arrival several years back; compositions stretch and contort, but seldom reach out. The whole thing is about as catchy as venereal disease.
And just as scary - save for a maudlin 'A Ballad To Forget': a brief respite mid-way through, the bearer of a winsome, eerie melody. Elsewhere, drugs are abound in seedy settings through the exasperating title-track (it only takes '50 minutes' for pills to kick in, apparently), while there's the surreal 'KracK', and opener 'E Talking'... You get the point. Best is the work of theirs when the pretence is dropped - 'NY Excuse' is giddy disco pop with girly yapping and 'Miserable Girl' almost has what can be classed 'a hook' (via some seriously diligent fuzz bass and demonic guitar hysteria).
On an ethereal 'Accidents & Compliments', vocalist Stephen Dewaele perhaps self-criticises all too succinctly, 'No-one has good taste; it's all just a coincidence.' On this outing, Soulwax may prove such a semblance true, but who's to say good taste was ever the be-all and end-all? Seemingly, sleaze, late nights, Ibiza partying, and the come-down afterwards, each have their merits.
Artists in this article: Soulwax
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