Jamie Stewart’s output is remarkably consistent, even if Xiu Xiu [Twitter/Facebook] have this habit of changing members and record labels like it’s going out of style. It could be argued that, having released nine albums in ten years, he doesn’t have the time to get too attached to any particular lineup or label, but as his collective’s new home is on the rather excellent Bella Union, he’s in good company: Midlake, Fleet Foxes, Lanterns on the Lake and plenty of others say ‘Hi’.
On Always, Stewart makes sure that melody comes first. Sure, there is a good dollop of typical weirdness evident, but at heart, a lot of this record is pure pop; in sound at least, even if its lyrical content is considerably darker. Dark lyrics are another of Stewart’s strengths, though: ‘If you’re wasting your life, say ‘hi’ / If you’re alone tonight, say ‘hi’ … If you’ve a stitch in your wrists, say ‘hi’, goes its opening track, and even for a man who once named an album Dear God, I Hate Myself, there is a lot of material on here that suggests genuine existential despair.
The album isn’t too heavy, but the imagery chosen on some songs makes for uncomfortable listening, even when welded to joyous pop hooks, such as those present on Joey’s Song. Was anyone expecting that song to have a chorus THAT big? I certainly wasn’t, and it’s one of the many moments on Always that leaves the listener quite taken aback: ‘Joey’s song in everything / Bitterness and jealousy, as long as you know I am waiting’.
There are moments here, too, where Stewart indulges his more uncompromising side: I Luv Abortion, as its title suggests, doesn’t hold back, a spoken/shouted song that is delivered over a pulsing electro backdrop, arguably the most intense song on the album: ‘When I look at my thighs, I see death / It is great: I love abortion / You are too good for this world / Let all you have lived be as if a dream!’ The oddly-named duo of Smear the Queen and Black Drum Machine are similarly unpredictable and wild.
Those three songs will be the low points of the album, for some, and from one person to the next they will be perceived differently, but I find that each has their place on the album – after all, this wouldn’t be a Xiu Xiu album without a few risks here and there, right? The mood whiplash from I Luv Abortion to the reflective, piano-led The Oldness is profound, showing that Stewart still knows how to throw curveballs.
All twelve songs on Always are delivered by Stewart in a trembling voice that is well aware of its own limitations – the emotional heft of the album requires such an approach, and it works rather well. They say quality is always better than quantity, but on the evidence of – again – his ninth studio album in ten years, he and his revolving-door-member-policy band remain well capable of delivering both.
Always is out now on Bella Union and can be streamed here.