OH NO - Xiu XIu: Review
Xiu Xiu
is the long running experimental music project of singer-songwriter Jamie Stewart. The band has been through many iterations and line-up changes over the past 20 years and their most recent era was defined by horror themed experimentations starting with a covers album of the Twin Peaks soundtrack and culminating in the brash an terrifying Girl With Basket Of Fruit in 2019. OH NO appears to be a transition in the bands style as they recruit guests vocalists on every single track here to craft a series of uniquely strange duets.
Review By Lav:
The last two Xiu Xiu albums have been particular favorites of mine so I think the band can be described as being in some sort of 2nd stage renaissance. With that being said I wasn't really sure what to expect going into this album. I wasn't sure how much influence the featured artists would have on the tracks but ultimately the album feels very pretty recognizably Xiu Xiu throughout.
Generally speaking most of the more high profile collaborations that I was looking forward to going into the album worked out pretty good. Sad Mezcalita is an eerie crossover with Sharon Van Etten that kicks the entire album off with an echoey, dark chambered sound. The song is slow paced but unmistakably unsettling with the splashes of spoken word that emerge out of nowhere and then disappear into space in a cool way. Goodbye For Good features Greg Saunier from Deerhoof but it's an experience that is Xiu Xiu's entirely. There is a very distant noise hanging behind the entire track and soft tortured vocals rushing into the mix seemingly at random with the last minute of the song painted by banging gongs making an enveloping amount of noise which honestly feels fitting. Rumpus Room grabbed a Liars feature and turned it into one of the most confrontational tracks here with a pseudo shouted hook caked in distortion yet its somehow catchy. It sounds like a Beck song from another dimension and yet the verse is so minimal they almost sound silent and the contrast is extreme.
I Dream Of Somebody Else Entirely emerged as a big favorite of mine even though the featured artist is Owen Pallett who I've never been a massive fan of. It is a Nick Cave channeling chamber folk style ballad with great vocal chemistry and performance all around and the result is a highlight. One Hundred Years is the longest song on the record and I'm fine with that because I love what Chelsea Wolfe brings to the song. From the thunderous drumming to harrowing vocals the song is dark but sneakily epic when all is said and done I find myself totally mesmerized bu the pairs lyricism and harmonizing. Finally the closing track A Bottle Of Rum features Liz Harris of Grouper and doesn't sound quite like anything else here. It's a straight up indie folk cut with with a hint of dream pop in the instrumentation and vocal effects. It doesn't sound like what you'd expect from either artist but they pull it off together pretty well.
Both Oh No and Fuzz Going Fight are a pair of conventional Xiu Xiu standards. The former is one of the more orchestral pieces yet its soaked in the same noisy chaos that has become a staple for the band. The formed is a ballad with Angel Seo that obviously fits in with cerebral lyrics and an unpredictable composition that keeps the song rewardingly in the moment. Knock Out grabs Alice Bag to deliver one of the most enigmatic and enjoyable features on the entire record taking over the second half of the track with an incredibly charming performance. It Bothers Me All The Time grabs Shearwater for a blend of swelling vocals and a distant atmosphere. The song also has an eruption of piercing fuzz that comes completely out of nowhere and makes the track feel alarmingly tense. It feels like something much more in line with the previous Xiu Xiu record than this one.
Pinning down sonic themes and describing the connection of any Xiu Xiu record effectively can always be difficult but generally when songs stand out on OH NO it is because they break the records mold and call back to earlier work from the band The Grifters features Haley Fohr AKA Circuit Des Yeux and takes a very spacious approach to its presentation. It's one of the most dramatic songs here occasionally sounding like something Lingua Ignota might do but never quite as hardcore. Saint Dymphna sees Xiu Xiu teaming up with remix king Twin Shadow for one of the more accessible tracks in the bunch. It delivers angelic layered vocal harmonies and shimmering keys the whole thing is mostly triumphant but with a splash of the same edge Xiu Xiu songs so often have.
I Cannot Resist is a whirlwind of a song with distant nature samples and planky keys. Unfortunately the approach between both vocalists is drastically different and while I think it adds to the songs unsettling nature it also comes off incredibly awkwardly in the mix of a beautiful track. A Classic Srew is outside the box even by Xiu Xiu standards but I'm not quite head over heels for the song. The sparing use of instrumentation and impressively stark instrumental passages are particularly strange in the way the vocals warp and bend all around the track,
OH NO is consistent but doesn't have quite the same highlights of some of the bands recent records. There is plenty of experimentation and unconventional sound play and composition throughout that makes the record a worthwhile series of songs for fans of the band. While it does lack the overwhelming sonic cohesion of their best work I can't deny that I still enjoyed quite a bit of this album and a number of the featured artists give out great performances, fitting surprisingly well into the unique world of Xiu Xiu. While I don't see any of these songs topping many year end lists I can definitely envision myself wanting to return to the strange sonic experience offered by the album as a whole sometime soon. 7/10
This cover is way too simple. There's just eyes. That's it. It looks like something that I would see scrolling through Tumblr in 2015. If there was some sort of branding, fun text or even a color palette it would make it more successful but it's not interesting or going to catch much of any attention. 2/10
For more experimental music check out my review of Pino Palladino and Blake Mills' Notes With Attachments here
