this is a strange one. in that it’s probably the most straightforwardly listenable of her aural offerings yet musically it drifts unexpectedly, ebbs sensually and flows unstructured and vaguely out of focus. none of this meant in the pejorative y’understand. it hangs together dreamlike and ephemeral. each song connected, yet not. michael gira alludes to disney in the release notes and i can kindof see where he’s coming from. but it strikes me more like jean cocteau’s la belle et la bête. it has that creepy oddness, that beauty, and all it’s magical melancholy that her albums exude (yes, even the grim morning after confusion of liquid pig) but magic neighbour has it in spades.
it has less of the (occasionally terrifying) foosty murk of old and more of the curtains opened sunlight filtering through motes of dust feel. or as ms germano put it herself: it’s about trying to be happy with all the sad shit in the world. it’s big and wide and warm. it’s intimate and delicate and unsettling (see the cat killing story of the title track). it’s as naked as ever but happily breathing and starkly gorgeous. lyrically, and musically.
it has that confessional happy/sad welcoming intrusion of eels electro-shock blues. so if you dig that (and kristin hersh’s lullaby folk murder ballad wanderings) you’ll dig this. and following fire on fire and james blackshaw, this is the third exceptional record that young god’s put out over the past year. heartily recommended.
