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JANUS 7E7081CD
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Death and the Maiden's Uneven Ground draws back the velvet curtain on the trio's crepuscular dreamworld with nine songs of their distinctive shadowy slow-motion fusion of underground electronic dance music and post-punk guitars washed through with psychic unease. The trio's name is taken from that of a nineteenth century engraving by Edvard Munch: an artwork steeped in mythology, exploring the dark boundaries between love and death, strength and frailty, beauty and decay. Their three albums to date each reinforce the symbolism of the name, and Uneven Ground's title could apply as much to their own journey in the years since Wisteria, their previous album, as to the times in which listeners currently live. Bassist and vocalist Lucinda King is the bedrock, guide and storyteller. Guitarist Hope Robertson weaves swooping, soaring motifs and sometimes deconstructed layers of noise to build analogue atmosphere for these alternate worlds. Danny Brady's beats mix old-school drum machines with electronic tones and distortion, while his synth arrangements blend elements of psy-trance and acid house with more amniotic ambient and industrial textures. While Uneven Ground may be the most overtly pop-sounding album in their catalogue, it also ratchets up the ominous atmosphere, noise and experimentation. Once again King's evocative lyrics appear as cryptic stories, built from events, memories, dreams, moments, warnings, regrets; where questions raised are left unanswered, and possibilities remain open.
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JANUS 7E7081LP
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LP version. Death and the Maiden's Uneven Ground draws back the velvet curtain on the trio's crepuscular dreamworld with nine songs of their distinctive shadowy slow-motion fusion of underground electronic dance music and post-punk guitars washed through with psychic unease. The trio's name is taken from that of a nineteenth century engraving by Edvard Munch: an artwork steeped in mythology, exploring the dark boundaries between love and death, strength and frailty, beauty and decay. Their three albums to date each reinforce the symbolism of the name, and Uneven Ground's title could apply as much to their own journey in the years since Wisteria, their previous album, as to the times in which listeners currently live. Bassist and vocalist Lucinda King is the bedrock, guide and storyteller. Guitarist Hope Robertson weaves swooping, soaring motifs and sometimes deconstructed layers of noise to build analogue atmosphere for these alternate worlds. Danny Brady's beats mix old-school drum machines with electronic tones and distortion, while his synth arrangements blend elements of psy-trance and acid house with more amniotic ambient and industrial textures. While Uneven Ground may be the most overtly pop-sounding album in their catalogue, it also ratchets up the ominous atmosphere, noise and experimentation. Once again King's evocative lyrics appear as cryptic stories, built from events, memories, dreams, moments, warnings, regrets; where questions raised are left unanswered, and possibilities remain open.
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JANUS7E 2054CD
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Dunedin trio Death And The Maiden return with a second album of hypnotic post-punk dream-pop. Wisteria continues the exploration of the dark bounds between love and death, beauty and decay unveiled on the band's debut (2015). Although the BPM of their shadowy sound world may have increased, the new album seems even more somber than its predecessor, with a deeper undertow of anxiety beneath the slow-motion trance pop. The songs on Wisteria are still anchored by Lucinda King's hypnotic basslines, as her vocals deliver lyrics exploring human experience within natural and unnatural worlds, but this time Hope Robertson's delay and reverb-drenched guitars break free, soaring above the decelerated, minimalist techno sounds of Danny Brady's electronic instrumentation and programmed beats, at times hinting at psychedelic surf music exotica. This unusual combination of techno, post-punk, psychedelia and dream-pop makes the new album from Death And The Maiden another beguiling proposition to explore.
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LP
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JANUS7E 2054LP
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LP version. Dunedin trio Death And The Maiden return with a second album of hypnotic post-punk dream-pop. Wisteria continues the exploration of the dark bounds between love and death, beauty and decay unveiled on the band's debut (2015). Although the BPM of their shadowy sound world may have increased, the new album seems even more somber than its predecessor, with a deeper undertow of anxiety beneath the slow-motion trance pop. The songs on Wisteria are still anchored by Lucinda King's hypnotic basslines, as her vocals deliver lyrics exploring human experience within natural and unnatural worlds, but this time Hope Robertson's delay and reverb-drenched guitars break free, soaring above the decelerated, minimalist techno sounds of Danny Brady's electronic instrumentation and programmed beats, at times hinting at psychedelic surf music exotica. This unusual combination of techno, post-punk, psychedelia and dream-pop makes the new album from Death And The Maiden another beguiling proposition to explore.
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