Xiu Xiu portrays the chaos of life in its new album “Women as lovers,” released in late January. Although the singing isn’t for everyone, Dave Matthews praises it saying that you just can’t put it down.
Many bands try to capture the chaos of life in music form, but Xiu Xiu has made a successful career out of bottling crisis and angst and wielding them in a similar musical package.
Women as Lovers, released Jan. 29 on independent label Kill Rock Stars, continues the band’s adventure into the depths of human emotion.
Frontman and mainstay, Jamie Stewart, carries with him the spirits of Joy Division’s ill-fated Ian Curtis and the Smiths’ Pope of Mope Morrissey. This channeling has guided Stewart and Co. through the years to develop albums with equal parts electronic soundscapes and acoustic guitars, with a dash of accordions, autoharps and pots and pans.
Women as Lovers, however, is more rock-centric with the additions of Ches Smith on drums and Devin Hoff on bass, making the band a quartet. On the previous album, 2006’s The Air Force, the synthesizers and programmed beats of Caralee McElroy were dominant instruments with Stewart bringing in guitars and vocals.
The album title has no song counterpart but instead stands as an assumed theme for the album. The title comes from a translation of novelist Elfreide Jelinek’s “Die Liebhaberinnen.”
Logically, themes of feminism would be threaded through the album, but no overt nod is given to the movement. Instead, like The Air Force, the title stands separately from the music to give the listener something else to consider.
The album’s centerpiece is a cover of the David Bowie/Queen classic “Under Pressure.” Michael Gira, of The Angels of Light, accompanies Stewart and McElroy on vocals to faithfully re-inhabit this song about love and everyday people.
“Guantanamo Canto” includes the line “My country needs this freedom to contradict your humanness.” Chimes, drummer boy snare rolls and air raid sirens add to the politically charged track that draws from the Cuban prison camp.
A lot of good things can be said for the album’s singles candidates “I Do What I Want, When I Want,” “F.T.W.” and “Under Pressure” but it’s the random bits that hold the album together.
With these binding elements, though, the chance to overload a song is always there: Xiu Xiu treads the line between lush arrangements and excessive noise.
“No Friend Oh!” is a great example of a perfect balance of all elements. On the chorus, a whaling trumpet overlays the driving drum beat and the dual vocals.
The deal breakers for any Xiu Xiu album are the lyrics and Stewart’s delivery. He has demonstrated that he’s capable of singing well, but generally opts for shrills and yelps that add to the confrontational nature of the music.
Dave Matthews articulated the experience on http://www.rollingstone.com in May 2007.
“There’s something about it where you can’t put it down,” Matthews said. “It’s like crazy person music, but it’s really slammin,’ and it’s really beautiful. He’s (Stewart) a little bit precious maybe and ‘a little bit’ may be understating it but there’s something about it that I go back and I listen to it again, and I like it.”
The openly bisexual Stewart takes stories from his life and friends and leaves them raw when he records. A particular tragic event for him was the suicide of his father, Mike, in November 2002 as expressed through past album’s tracks “Mike” and “The Pineapple vs. the Watermelon.” Remnants of the loss can still be detected on this album.
A drawback of the album, though, is the development of the songs on the back half. Tracks such as “The Leash” and “Child at Arms” are like rough drafts for longer songs. The album’s 14 tracks could probably be cut down to 11.
The verdict:
The new lineup’s dynamic gives listeners something to look forward to from Xiu Xiu’s next release.
★★★☆☆
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