After trading in dark atmospherics the LA indie rockers craft a looser and more relaxed sound on their latest offering.
Warpaint/ Heads Up
When the all-female LA indie rockers played their first Asian gig at Singapore's Laneway Festival in 2011, the name Warpaint elicited a quizzical look even from the most clued-in festivalgoers.
Having just released their critically acclaimed debut LP The Fool the year before, the Californian quartet appeared aloof and slightly nervous on stage as they soldiered through a set of spellbinding, reverb-heavy tracks including Undertow, Shadows and Elephants. Sure, there was still room for improvement as far as the live performance was concerned, but the dynamic between band members Emily Kokal, Theresa Wayman, Jenny Lee Lindberg and Stella Mozgawa came through, offering a flash of the brilliance that would later be fully realised on their 2014 self-titled studio follow-up.
Having played major music festivals around the world and grown more confident as live performers over the years, Warpaint is now considered one of the best all-woman rock bands in the business. Here, they return with Heads Up, their third record proper described by vocalist Kokal as "dancier, faster and fun".
And it is. Take, for instance, lead single New Song, which is the most vibrant, pop-oriented number the group has put out to date. "You're a new song, baby/You're a new song to me," Kokal sings gleefully in the chorus. New wave-inspired The Stall follows suit with a sparse drum beat and a bassline that recalls the some of the xx's best tracks.
And speaking of basslines, the ones that underpin Whiteout and So Good are so deliciously malleable they hands down steal the show. Less upbeat offerings Don't Wanna and Don't Let Go should appeal to fans of Warpaint's earlier, more brooding material whereas Dre alludes to rapper Doctor Dre but plays like a fascinating hybrid between Forest Swords and FKA Twigs.
The title track, on the other hand, starts off slowly with a sombre vocal incantation before abruptly bursting into ripples of post-punk guitars. Acoustic-folk closer Today Dear offers a dose of calm and quiet complete with quasi-macabre lyrics ("I saw my blood drawn out, saw my flood run dry/I have no fear, my dear/Today, no moment will pass me by").
If Warpaint's previous releases were an all-out exploration of the more shadowy side of indie rock, Heads Up feels more or less like the antithesis of that. Drawing influences from radio-friendly pop-dance all the way down to hip-hop and R&B, the album, while still mired in murky undertones, finds the foursome at their most sonically diverse and spontaneous. As a band, they've grown from meek live performers to massively self-assured musicians who are comfortable enough in their own artistic skin but not too complacent to not try to break out of their comfort zone.
THE PLAYLIST
The Ghost Cat/ Wan Fah Mua (Gloom)
Wan Fah Mua (Gloom), the latest single from Spicy Disc's supergroup The Ghost Cat, finds the quintet marrying upbeat new-wave guitars with familiar '80s rock stylings (think bands like Future Islands and The War on Drugs). Here, vocalist Win Sirivongse sings about the challenges of overcoming a break-up ("The past's catching up to me like a shadow/And now I can hardly stand it/In vain I'll wait right here for you to return/Among the pain and suffering"). Gloom marks another solid track from the band and we can't wait to hear what they will deliver on their full-length album.
Phantogram/ Same Old Blues
"And this is nothing new/It's just the same old blues," vocalist Sarah Barthel swiftly warns in the opening verse of Same Old Blues, New York duo Phantogram's third cut off their forthcoming third full-length studio album, Three. Following You Don't Get Me High Anymore, Run Run Blood and Cruel World, the track features a rousing gospel choir sample, a subtle dubstep breakdown coupled with a gnarly guitar solo. "I keep on having this dream where I'm stuck in a hole and I can't get out," Barthel adds, further confirming the dark mood and tone of the new record.
Kings of Leon/ Waste A Moment
Kings of Leon are one of those bands whose sound is readily recognisable only a few seconds into their songs. And that's exactly the case with their new song, Waste A Moment, the lead single from their seventh studio album, Walls. Here, the Followill brothers give us the familiarity of a lurching stadium-rock tune built upon electric guitars and some obscure lyrics about sex ("Sexy was her boyfriend, with no kin, always running from the law/Every other weekend, the week ends with his back at her claw").
Peter Gabriel/ The Veil
With lines like "There's an ocean where data flows", "now you've let that whistle blow" and "an American hero or a traitor that deserves to die", British singer-songwriter Peter Gabriel certainly doesn't beat around the bush on The Veil, a song inspired by the story of Edward Snowden. As for the music itself, there's everything you'd expect from a traditional Peter Gabriel number with the horns and percussion nicely playing off each other. And in case you haven't guessed it already, the track appears on Oliver Stone's new biopic about the former CIA officer/exiled NSA whistleblower, Snowden.
Calvin Harris/ My Way
Speaking about his new tropical house banger My Way, Calvin Harris said it's "kind of about breaking out of a situation that you thought was a good thing". As much as the Scottish DJ/producer likes to keep it vague, pretty much everyone and their grandmas know that the song aims squarely at his nefarious ex, Taylor Swift (who, by the way, has since started and ended yet another relationship). "I made my move and it was all about you/Now I feel so far removed/You were the one thing in my way," goes the not-so-subtle lyrics sung by Harris himself.
