Art Of Fighting
Second Storey

Low-fi reinterpreted in a Pop key

The Art Of Fighting are four Australian guys who debuted with two EPs of pure slow-core and then moved on, with their first album "Wires," to nostalgic lo-fi. With this second album, they offer us ten songs that continue the conversation started with the previous record.

This album thus presents an undeniably pop structure: the ten tracks contained within span from the intimacy of Sodastream to the melancholy of Coldplay. Rarefied atmospheres, motionless in the air like soap bubbles and timelessly immortal, abruptly interrupted by pounding explosions reminiscent of the melodies of Sigur Rós' latest productions. Acoustic guitar always in the forefront and two voices, male and female, warm and familiar. A characteristic of all the songs on the album is the psychological mood of despondency and melancholy. Despite the sweet vocals, there is a deep bitterness in the album, like a lost love experienced in a tormented way: a kind of still open wound, an incurable malaise of life. The lyrics only serve to confirm this characteristic. Time stops during the sweet refrain of "Sing Song": it remains there, watching you, like the glassy, dust-covered eyes of a stuffed animal devoured by dust in your cellar. This is Art Of Fighting: a calm, placid perfection that masks an implosion of profound sadness. Their languid and airy atmospheres are expressed with an almost minimal simplicity: this should not be confused with banality, because, as I hope you know, even something simple can be infinitely beautiful.

Prove it for yourself: listen to the female vocals of "Where Trouble Lives" or let yourself be guided by the sadness that permeates "Break For Me", which, with a vocal crescendo, leads to an anguished implosion. Or the orchestral pop of "Busted, Broken, Forgotten" which, while remaining one of the most easy-listening tracks on the album, is the closest to Sodastream. One of my favorite tracks on the album is "Two Rivers", which, ethereal and heartbreaking, recalls the Mojave 3 of "Ask Me Tomorrow."

As you may have understood, this album is nothing new under the sun, yet it remains beautiful and enjoyable, linear in its flow, like the course of a full river. Unfortunately, none of the band's albums have been released in Italy and are only available through importation.

When I listen to this album, I have the feeling that the music of Art of Fighting was something I knew all along, I had them locked in the secret drawer of my heart. Now it's time to open the drawer and introduce them to you. Let yourself be enchanted.