Eerily industrial, aquatic and surreal, Collarbones’ third release, Return, is a phenomenal contribution to modern electronica. Slick and sad with pop sensibilities, the album draws you in by building tension and then breaking into these incredibly groovy toe-tappers – almost a throwback to mid-2000s.
Sinking (Deeper) is distinctly reminiscent of Nine Inch Nails; small drum and bass samples and chilling caterwauls of, “Deeper… go deeper,” behind a mess of glitch and snappy snares – this is the stand out song. Only Water, featuring Melbourne’s Oscar Key Sung is a belter of a track and the clear single release. The onomatopoeia between the music and lyrics; the cascading keys and phrasing are chill-inducing. Staccato vocal samples juxtaposed by Travis Cook’s sweet vocals turn Turning from a dance track to this introspective mind-melt.
Return is an easily accessible album given the recent boom in similar artists: SOHN, Flume (duh) and Chet Faker. Despite this, Collarbones have retained originality by traversing the spectrum of electronica, varying between major and sickly happy dream-pop, with bells and tinkles, circa Beach House’s seminal Devotion, all the way to the darker side, sucking the listener down a vacuous hole. The pair describe Return as a tour de force relationship – a comparison of the relationship itself to the harsh realities of post-break up.
All I can imagine while listening is being with a lover at 5am, in whatever state of inebriation you’ve caused in each other; there’s dull lighting and maybe a bottle of vodka to really round things out. Swelling, melancholic, poppy, dancey, this album runs the gamut. Imagine if Outkast were a bunch of Aussie white boys and you might be starting to catch my drift. Shit, Flume voted for them in triple j’s Hottest 100 – probably can’t go wrong, right?
BY NAVARONE FARRELL
