I wish I was special
Pliable, hallucinogenic DIY pop fractals from Glasgow-based duo Jessica Higgins and Matthew Walkerdine, a duo inspired by avant garde cinema and twee outsider experiments, occupying a dreamy space between zones by using cheap electronics to curve light-hearted songs into eerie soundscapes. Big tip for followers of A.C. Marias, Pram, Flaming Tunes, Empress.
Higgins and Walkerdine are both members of Glasgow art-punk bands Vital Idles and Mordwaffe, and working as Guests they find the freedom to stretch their ideas a little further, working outside usual structural templates. Assembling a modest set of tools - rudimentary synths and drum machines, mics and environmental recordings - the duo stitch together a collage of concrète experiments and outerzone pop gestures, music that sounds as if it's being written from the depths of a dream. Even the band's moniker is intentional: they attempt to articulate the notion of looking from the outside in, pulling apart nervous sensations with haphazard ease and requisite humour.
Higgins’ delivery is effortless and charming - inspired by the C86 era's nonchalant daintiness, but twisted into abstraction. The duo stretch the edges, distorting synth phrases into bubbly textures, slowing drum loops to a creaky crawl. The gaps are filled by odd, evocative soundscapes - carefully placed, grated real-world elements that jolt you into reality. Higgins disassembles awkward conversations on 'Arrangements, As In Making Them', musing over topics in stumbled prose while giddy organs and beatbox clicks coalesce into a backdrop. "Oh well, uhm, I wanna say something about the record of your, the premise of your arrival," she stumbles, half singing.
Then, on '(something romantic)', the backdrop of a bustling café, accordions and all, criss-crosses with dizzy synths, carillon bells and half-heard voices. They build a framework for their music to exist within. Taking cues from iconic outsiders like A.C. Marias, Flaming Tunes and Annea Lockwood, they light their compositions with soft, watery hues, avoiding lavish over-composition, but paying attention to illusory subtleties that only sink in on the third or fourth play. Higgins' voice is delivered in cool-headed spoken and sung passages on 'Chalky Outline', splayed over angular drones that initially seem at odds. But when it fritters away and Walkerdine takes over, quietly reading as the synths turn into serrated, low-end growls, Higgins' wails appear again, reverberating like spirit cries somewhere over the horizon.
Really quite mesmerising music, we're gonna be untangling for a while..
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Pliable, hallucinogenic DIY pop fractals from Glasgow-based duo Jessica Higgins and Matthew Walkerdine, a duo inspired by avant garde cinema and twee outsider experiments, occupying a dreamy space between zones by using cheap electronics to curve light-hearted songs into eerie soundscapes. Big tip for followers of A.C. Marias, Pram, Flaming Tunes, Empress.
Higgins and Walkerdine are both members of Glasgow art-punk bands Vital Idles and Mordwaffe, and working as Guests they find the freedom to stretch their ideas a little further, working outside usual structural templates. Assembling a modest set of tools - rudimentary synths and drum machines, mics and environmental recordings - the duo stitch together a collage of concrète experiments and outerzone pop gestures, music that sounds as if it's being written from the depths of a dream. Even the band's moniker is intentional: they attempt to articulate the notion of looking from the outside in, pulling apart nervous sensations with haphazard ease and requisite humour.
Higgins’ delivery is effortless and charming - inspired by the C86 era's nonchalant daintiness, but twisted into abstraction. The duo stretch the edges, distorting synth phrases into bubbly textures, slowing drum loops to a creaky crawl. The gaps are filled by odd, evocative soundscapes - carefully placed, grated real-world elements that jolt you into reality. Higgins disassembles awkward conversations on 'Arrangements, As In Making Them', musing over topics in stumbled prose while giddy organs and beatbox clicks coalesce into a backdrop. "Oh well, uhm, I wanna say something about the record of your, the premise of your arrival," she stumbles, half singing.
Then, on '(something romantic)', the backdrop of a bustling café, accordions and all, criss-crosses with dizzy synths, carillon bells and half-heard voices. They build a framework for their music to exist within. Taking cues from iconic outsiders like A.C. Marias, Flaming Tunes and Annea Lockwood, they light their compositions with soft, watery hues, avoiding lavish over-composition, but paying attention to illusory subtleties that only sink in on the third or fourth play. Higgins' voice is delivered in cool-headed spoken and sung passages on 'Chalky Outline', splayed over angular drones that initially seem at odds. But when it fritters away and Walkerdine takes over, quietly reading as the synths turn into serrated, low-end growls, Higgins' wails appear again, reverberating like spirit cries somewhere over the horizon.
Really quite mesmerising music, we're gonna be untangling for a while..