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Sep 18, 2017 The Blow By Billy Hamilton

Since the release of The Blow’s self-titled long player in 2013, the world has turned decidedly maximalist. Pop music, politics, sex, food, fashion, feelings, thoughts, even fucking coffee have had their dials ramped up to deafening. If we can’t hear you in 2017, you don’t exist.

So how have Melissa Dyne and Khaela Maricich reacted? Not quite as the world wants. The duo’s new record Brand New Abyss is the antithesis to this amplified jungle; a bare boned, unvarnished cosmos of electronic minimalism. And right now, it sounds almost radical.

The vibe, however, is still very much The Blow. Maricich’s quick-lipped ruminations rattle through elasticated collages such as “Get Up” and opener “Peaceful Easy Feeling.” But instead of indulging in oversaturated effects, these songs take a moment to inhale before releasing a fusion of modular synthesizers and rickety beats.

Such austerity runs down the record’s spine. “So There” is a bassy, downbeat lament that submerges a bubbling synth line; Whitney Houston cover “Greatest Love of All” is an opulent tear jerker manipulated through an astonishing array of frequencies; while the gorgeous “Summer” bounces on an off key groove while Maricich claims “I know I’m not the sun, but I can be something in your sky.”

Most striking is “The Woman You Want Her to Be.” Led by a striding industrial garble, Maricich uses peerless lyrical acrobatics to scythe down misogyny. Like the rest of the record it’s sonically understated, but fiercely effective. The Blow might just be on to something. (www.theblow.org)

Author rating: 7.5/10