Ulrika Spacek Expo (Clear vinyl)

Description

Condition: Brand New Ships from: Melbourne

• Description
• Release details
• Tracklist

• When Ulrika Spacek released their debut record The Album Paranoia in 2016, there was no reason to believe the band was capable of far more than the psych rock sound that had made them popular in the London scene. What a difference a decade makes: In the years between The Album Paranoia and now, the band moved past psych, developing real experimental muscle via krautrock and post-Radiohead electronic melancholia. They were always decent musicians, but time and age brought with them the confidence to experiment and the discipline to make sure the experimentation always served the song. Theyve never sounded more self-assured than on EXPO, their fourth full-length record and best to date.

  EXPO succeeds because it is expertly balanced. The bands sonic palettea musical latticework of electronic and analog elementsis noticeably expanded. Clarity of vision requires an editors eye, and Ulrika Spacek has one. The sound collage that serves as the album opener doesnt overstay its welcome. In the hands of another band, Weights & Measures would be a tedious dalliance with avant-garde jazz and trip-hop. Instead, its a standout, the drum machine punching holes in its creamy synths. Also worth mentioning are the bursts of sampled film music throughoutstraining, James Bond-style stringsthat sound like a natural progression from similar experiments on The Foreign Department, frontman Rhys Edwardss 2024 solo outing under the moniker Astrel K.

  Everything trends a little gossamer. The guitars are modulated and tuned to sound reminiscent of Womenand even a little math-y in places, if used with less panache than the 1970s Farfisa electric organs. The drums are repeatedly overlaid with their digital counterparts. As a lyricist, Edwards eschews straightforward imagery, leaning instead on Dadaist constructionsAll I need is hope, trust, food and water/ Laid out in front of me/ In Times New Roman orderand more tactile sensations: sheepskin, wet ink, leather, airplane turbulence, rip, twist, pull, pull, stitch, then knot. Contemporary concerns are referenced only briefly and in oblique language: Its a visceral age I find you in/ In screen light, far wide, or A shit show that I attend in the true sense/ The world got frightening in blue light.

  The title of album closer Incomplete Symphony belies EXPOs true nature as a wonderfully cohesive record, experimental and adventurous but never extravagant or overwrought. No sonic avenue on this record feels under-explored or otherwise poorly rendered. Maybe you can age gracefully out of indie after all.

• Artist: Ulrika Spacek Label: Full Time Hobby Format: LP Units: 1 Country: UK Genre: Pop & Rock Style: Alternative Rock, Art Rock, Post-Punk

• A1 Intro
  A2 Picto
  A3 I Could Just Do It
  A4 Build A Box Then Break It
  A5 This Time I’M Present
  A6 Showroom Poetry
  B1 Expo
  B2 Square Root Of None
  B3 Weights &Amp; Measures
  B4 A Modern Low
  B5 Incomplete Symphony