Xiu Xiu
La Foret

THE REVIEW

Those who had their eye on Jamie Stewart since the days of IBOPA probably won't agree with this latest album by Xiu Xiu (a project now reduced to a duo with Cory McCollough as the only remaining member), which tends to consolidate the sound of their previous works, with few new elements to their style. The illegitimate child of Bjork and Robert Smith, Jamie Stewart dominates the tracks with his voice, sensitive to the most exaggerated expressionism. This time, however, his voice often disappears not because of the cacophonic accumulation of sounds and noises (another fetish of Xiu Xiu) but due to its total absence, given the extended instrumental parts and more carefully crafted arrangements. Indeed, this is their longest album yet.

At first listen, it may seem like the most obvious album by Xiu Xiu, until in the danceable Bog People, the shouted chorus, when it arrives, seems almost inevitable. But being the "mature" album for the two from S. Jose, they still manage to show an interpretative finesse far superior to their previous works. The tracks, in their entirety, might sound more anonymous here, but the logical thread of the album is well defined. Saturn, Rose of Sharon, and Ale seem to meld into a single embrace: a nightmare, a melancholic dream, and the awakening.
A new day?