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I was lately reflecting on the phallic nature of rock music, on its being primarily a playground for male cogitations, fantasies, and hormones. Even though they are still outnumbered (in a general perspective), the widespread diffusion of music over the last 10 years has generated a growing proliferation of all-female bands, like the ladies in question.
Electrelane loves circular structures, melodies (but also not) that cross the finish line multiple times before ending the race, grandchildren of a kraut setup between Neu! and Can, and daughters of the analog diversions of early Stereolab. The substantial difference compared to the last "Axes" is the great attention to melodies, enough to make long-time fans wrinkle their noses. But not me.
Maybe it's the summer, with its indolent pace, the blazing sun, the lapping of the sea, and other stereotypical variations on the theme, but this hypnotic melodic formula has positively won me over. To be clear, Electrelane has not turned into a girl band like the Pipettes; they have simply smoothed out some edges, balancing their idea of a song form excellently. And they have not renounced an inspired psychedelic vein. Exemplary in this sense is the semi-instrumental triptych "Tram 21", an analog fantasy reminiscent of Stereolab, "Between The Wolf And The Dog", a hypnotic pursuit of bass and guitar towards unusual desert extensions, "Five", with its appropriately sinusoidal and narcoleptic progression. But it is the accentuated melodic side that gives us the less cerebral emotions.
The initial duo "The Greater Times"/"To The East" relies on immediately gripping refrains, driven by rhythms as minimal as they are sticky, both perfectly integrated with Verity Susman's off-key voice, never so much in the foreground. Also ingenious is the Sonic Youth/Pavement mix of "The Call", or the intimate melodies of "Saturday" and "At Sea", or the strange ballad "Cut And Run".
Therefore, an album of uncertain paternity, but birthed and nurtured by four nurturing and musically gifted mothers. Recommended listening both during the period of menarche and during ovulation.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 The Greater Times (03:42)
You say you don't know what love means anymore
Since I found you
I'm tearing down the walls without you
And I'm getting lost in all the plans that I heard you make
About the older times
About the greater times
Oh I don't know
I don't know anyway
Look up
Look up
I'll keep my eyes on you
Do you remember when you were a child then?
And you laughed when you looked at the moon
There's no meaning anymore
We're floating in the sky
And if you think that we are older now
It's just our heads are butterflies
Are you the one that I've been waiting for?
You say you don't know what love means anymore
Since I found you
I'm tearing down the walls, the walls, the walls...
Are you the one that I've been waiting for?
Are you the one that I've been waiting for?
02 To the East (04:54)
You didn't know where to go
Walking around in this flag-waving town
I saw you waiting for a train
And you disappeared
Your face pressed up to the window
You went so far away
And I want to come there too
I want to be with you
I'm just waiting until you say these words:
"Come back, come back, come back, oh, to me
I'm living near Gdańsk
There's a train, you'd be here soon
There's a life for me and you
The East means so many things
But it could be home, it could be home, it could be home, it could be home
For you and me
It could be home, it could be home, it could be home, it could be home
Come back, come back, come back, oh, to me."
And if you'd ever say those words
I'd come to you, where you are
It's too hard to be apart
The East's not so far away
But it could be home, it could be home, it could be home, it could be home
For you and me
It could be home, it could be home, it could be home, it could be home
Come back, come back, come back
Oh, to me
03 After the Call (03:04)
All the things that I've done
Go around in my head
And I can't forget
All the things she said
All the things that I've done
Go around in my head
And I can't forget
All the things she said
What could I do?
What could I do?
What could I do?
What could I do?
In her eyes
In her eyes
In her eyes
It's all there in her eyes
All the things that I've done
Go around in my head
And I can't forget
All the things she said
What could I do?
What could I do?
What could I do?
What could I do?
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