A Love You Cannot Shake＜限定盤/Red Vinyl＞

On A Love You Cannot Shake, Fashion Clubs Pascal Stevenson reveals how much more there is to her music than the soul-baring post-punk of her debut album, Scrutiny. Stevenson wrote her second album in the wake of her gender transition, an experience that empowered her to express herself more fully. While the desperation, anger, and blunt honesty of Scrutiny made it an unforgettable listen, Stevenson finds just as much eloquence in the relative ease of A Love You Cannot Shake. This lighter, more confident version of Fashion Club immediately makes itself known on "Faith," a musical big bang that begins with galaxy-sized electronic bursts and blooms into strings and drums that cradle Stevensons voice as she muses, "Im all dressed up in happiness/Until maybe one day Ill believe it." She frames the rest of A Love You Cannot Shakes epiphanies with sounds that span indie, classical, electronic, and industrial and let her flex her chops as a producer. On "Deny," she sets her doubts to streaking and scraping tones worthy of Arca; on "Deify," she traces her emotional journey with pummeling guitars and drums that eventually give way to strings and piano that rival the work of Max Richter for their mournful beauty. The albums softness extends to Stevensons vocals, which trade Scrutinys glowering contralto for a gentler approach thats not just more vulnerable, but more versatile. When she sings, "Ive found comfort in the truth," on the glowing indie rock of "Ice Age," she embodies that feeling of relief just as completely as she lets herself hope on the flawlessly fuzzy pop of "One Day." Stevenson makes the opening up of her music on A Love You Cannot Shake literal by bringing in some well-chosen collaborators. Considering how devoted they both are to confessing their deepest truths to inventive sonics, Perfume Genius and Fashion Club are a perfect pairing, and the luminous, tremulous "Forget" doesnt disappoint. Jay Som joins Stevenson on "Ghost," a constellation of skittering electronics that feels worlds away from Scrutiny. However, a closer listen reveals that many of that albums strengths have made the journey to A Love You Cannot Shake. Honor and morality remain major players in Fashion Clubs songs, particularly on the gorgeous Julie Byrne collaboration "Rotten Mind," where blankets of distortion and reverb cant disguise how pointed the question "do you want to do whats right?" is. Stevenson still wields rhymes to devastating effect, expressing how seductive denial is on "Confusion" ("I get by on illusion…We all rely on delusion") and the physical consequences of internalized betrayal on "Enough" ("It builds up in your gut/Recast into disgust"). A Love You Cannot Shake may not be as raw and singular as Scrutiny, but it reflects a different kind of bravery by artfully capturing the joy and pain of living authentically. Its truly moving to hear Stevenson embrace the possibilities that have opened up in her music; with any luck, widening her sound will widen Fashion Clubs audience. ~ Heather Phares