On Satanic Lullabies, Melbourne new wave artist Gregor layers rich, unexpected textures over moments of chilling beauty.
Innovative, warped, unbridled and challenging, Gregor’s fourth album is a clash of contrasts as Gregor seeks to “draw attention to the similarities between heaven and hell”.
Mad props to the presser writer, who described Satanic Lullabies thus: “Like if pre-MAGA [Make America Great Again] Kanye made a Disney soundtrack.”
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The opening Prelude graduates from tinkling piano into a vibratory bass rumble that threatens to upend any objects sharing a surface with speakers: “Life is amazing/ Disturbed and elegant…”
Innovative sounds fire the imagination throughout, with The Magic Pony’s analogue drum machine beat evoking a ping pong game/popping the inside of your cheek with index finger. The Sparkle opens with meandering keys before percussive hiccups hijack the scene. Hold up, is that a kazoo or gumleaf solo during Royal Blues?
Lamplight transforms from a hypnotic piano meditation into a song fit for a dream sequence (Beauty School Dropout from Grease springs to mind).
“Hazelnut heartbreak”, “a pencil in the sand that was sharpened by hand” – tuning into lyrics activates the mind’s eye. For some reason, Reality Rings Loud makes us think of the artist Shag’s visual universe as Gregor sees “a band in the sky”: “And a delicately manicured haaaand slaps the drum…”
Darkness engulfs the soul during dramatic closer Sick Death – “If you’re sick of me, how do you think I feel about myself?… If you’re sick of me, you should kill me yourself…” – which finishes abruptly.
Intriguing is an understatement. File Satanic Lullabies adjacent to Kirin J Callinan.
LABEL: CHAPTER RECORDS
RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
