Jesus Was an Alien

Perels first album, the DFA-issued Hermetica, was a simmering, suspenseful mixture of post-punk and space disco that fit smoothly within the contemporary club landscape. Her second full-length, Jesus Was an Alien, arrives on Kompakt, and it has a more streamlined electro-disco sound in addition to lyrics that question and comment on the nature of belief. The title track is a collaboration with Marie Davidson, who has largely abandoned the overt snarkiness of her 2018 breakthrough Working Class Woman, yet her mystical lyrics seem to blur the lines between surreal humor and genuine existential query. Aside from this guest feature, the best tracks on the album successfully incorporate a greater presence of early house elements into Perels sound. "Matrix" is a shadowy, seductive number enhanced by its rave pianos, and "The Principle of Vibration" employs similar chords to magical effect, melting them into acid-disco synth lines. "Kill the System" is a more straightforward, entrancing techno track that also mutates with acid synths, and its driven home by Perels monotone lyrics spoken in German. Finally, the album wraps up with another propulsive, ice-cold new wave disco thriller, "Am Kanal." ~ Paul Simpson