Astro Tough

The 2018 debut of the studio project audiobooks -- the duo of producer/engineer David Wrench and singer/artist/model Evangeline Ling -- was a theatrical, form-shifting work born largely out of improvisation. When they re-teamed for the follow-up, they took a more deliberate, streamlined approach, focusing on their playfully arty, club-minded post-punk and techno tracks for the creation of Astro Tough. A nonetheless moody, volatile set of songs, it also finds the duo committing to Ling as sole vocalist. They set the scene with pulsing bass, upbeat hi-hat chicks, and a repeated melodic synth hook on opener The Doll, whose vocals in the first half consist of a spoken word narrative involving a child and a lost doll. Adding layers of synths to looped beats, the second half switches to DJ-friendly sung vocal samples that include the phrase So hard to let go. Elsewhere, First Move has a more melodic, dance-pop disposition, while Driven by Beef features an increasingly outraged Ling as she rants about acne and enemies atop overdriven synth bass and skittering drums. Wry highlight The English Manipulator (He was so rude and well-mannered) offers another danceable narrative, this time with colorful bleeps and bloops ornamenting dramatic sung-spoken recollections and the contrasting melodic choruses. When audiobooks occasionally opt out of dance spaces for something more jazz-rock-oriented (Blue Tits) or for the melancholy Baroque pop of closer Farmer, these tracks still manage to sound like they belong, as they play into the albums self-medicating, easily triggered emotional arc. A welcome evolution from the debut, Astro Toughs lingering inconsistency is part of the fun. ~ Marcy Donelson

フランク・オーシャンやXXとの仕事歴もあるプロデューサーのデヴィッド・レンチと、歌い手のエヴァンジェリン・リングによる男女デュオ。前作ではヒューマン・リーグ経由のエレポップ～ポスト・パンクを聴かせていたが、今回もその路線を引き継ぎつつ、サウンドはよりソリッドかつミニマルに。クラフトワーク+ダブ的な"Black Lipstick"をはじめ、特にジャーマン・テクノ風のトラックが秀逸だ。
bounce (C)赤瀧洋二