Friday, March 05, 2021

Evolutionary fervour

The Guardian's Alexis Petridis began his review of 2017's Modern Kosmology - one of those write-ups that, if you're reading it having already heard the record, has you nodding in agreement at the end of every sentence - by noting: "There is something both odd and immensely cheering about the arc of Jane Weaver's career. For whatever reason, you don't get many artists hitting their stride after 22 years and eight albums." That arc has continued with her new LP - and it is just as "odd and immensely cheering" as it was four years ago.

Flock has been billed (not unjustifiably) as the work of an outsider artist making a decisive stride in the direction of the mainstream, but still feels familiar in the way that it offers further evidence of what Petridis described as "her ability to alchemise her dusty source material into pop music". Album closer 'Solarised' is arguably the most intriguing and significant track, a sad banger that sets controls for the heart of the dancefloor and hints at further evolution to come. Certainly, the silver globe in the title of her 2014 album is starting to look less like a Hawkwind allusion and more like a reference to a mirror ball.

Anyway, here's my review of Flock for Buzz.

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