Angus Andrew, when speaking about the new Liars [Facebook/Website] record last month, admitted, ‘I don’t think I’ve been this scared of a record we made since Drum’s Not Dead.’ I’ll be honest: I haven’t heard the album in question, as I got into Liars with the release of Sisterworld but haven’t started working my way back yet (something I intend to swiftly rectify, as I’m very impressed by their new record – more on that later), but I can still see why he’s scared. The rumblings that went on about yet another shift in sound for the Brooklyn trio (Andrew, Aaron Hemphill and Julian Gross) weren’t anything new – if there’s anything that can definitely be said about Liars, they revel in their unpredictability – but what they pointed towards definitely was. People who expect WIXIW (pronounced ‘wish-you’) to be oriented more towards ambient music will have their expectations fulfilled. It is most definitely that kind of album.
I feel as though I should also point out what it isn’t. It is definitely not Liars’s ‘pop’ album. While lead single No. 1 Against the Rush flirted briefly with the idea that the band were about to move their sound in a more accessible direction – and indeed, they have another pair of strong singles ready to go in the forms of the funky Flood to Flood and the bracing electronic rock of penultimate track Brats – their sixth album consists almost entirely of growers. While it would certainly be interesting to hear their take on pop, WIXIW isn’t it. Instead, the album opens with The Exact Colour of Doubt, an understated, minimal song swathed in keyboard ambience which is going to catch a lot of people off guard.
Here, I will take a moment to reflect on the idea of Liars themselves being scared of an album they made – it’s certainly different to the norm, where the fans themselves are the ones left spooked. The group’s last album was the utterly terrifying Sisterworld, an album that sounded claustrophobic and dark, but one that was perhaps less cohesive than had been hoped. The songs themselves were extremely strong, though perhaps didn’t gel as a whole. In contrast, WIXIW is both more restrained (though its lyrics deal with themes such as doubt, anxiety and uncertainly, so it’s hardly an easy ride) and more cohesive. The latter point is in fact an understatement: these songs work incredibly well together, creating a tense and unsettling atmosphere, a kind of pervasive unease. The single is sandwiched in between the brooding, pessimistic Octagon, and the rhythmic grooves that underpin A Ring on Every Finger, and it benefits hugely from the fresh context.
The album’s 11 songs play off each other, all combining to create their own world for the listener to lose themselves in; or more appropriately, get lost in, for the world it creates is filled with unexpected detours, peaks and valleys, all of which are present in the sprawling title track. Arpeggiated synth lines guide the song through its first two minutes, the pitch shifting and warping before the song settles into a steady 4/4 rhythm, soaring and diving with perfect timing, an unexpectedly uplifting journey in the midst of an album that is filled with introspection. Even the two songs which shift focus away from electronics share the general timbre of what they’re surrounded by; Ill Valley Prodigies serves as an acoustic interlude, and Annual Moon Words is a surprisingly affecting, stripped-back song that is the album’s ideal closer, but both hold fast to the gloomy feel of the record as a whole.
WIXIW relies on breathing space, both in terms of the layered songwriting (arguably most prominent on His and Mine Sensations and Who Is the Hunter, the latter of which serves as the ace up the album’s metaphorical sleeve – the moment when the chorus properly hits is unquestionably one of the record’s high points), and the fact that it takes multiple spins before it even comes close to having full impact. In some ways, it is business as usual for the band; in other, more important ones – just think of the avenues that have opened up for them to explore in future! – it is something radically different to what’s gone before. It is, first and foremost, an album, and it is excellent. Liars, I WIXIW every success with your new record. To the fans: give it time; that will make the moment when it finally clicks all the more significant.
WIXIW is released via Mute on Jume 4th.
[PRE-ORDER: Liars – WIXIW @ Official Store // Amazon (CD / LP / MP3) // iTunes]
http://soundcloud.com/muterecords/liars-no-1-against-the-rush
Liars – No.1 Against The Rush
http://soundcloud.com/muterecords/liars-octagon/s-7BDnW
Liars – Octagon