Whether it compelled you or repelled you, a big part of what made the Jonathan Glazer’s film, Under The Skin, so otherworldly and unnerving, yet strangely erotic, was its edgy soundtrack. The composer, Mic Levi, is better known as the singer of UK outfitMicachu & the Shapes. Her soundtrack work added a new layer to her sound, showing a spaciousness and restraint missing from her more sporadic band efforts.
Good Bad Happy Sad continues where Micachu & the Shapes’ previous album Never left off, another collection of scattershot pop. The constituent tunes, or at least the bare bones of tunes, are given a two-minute framework and sometimes that’s more than enough. The theme of mixed emotions gives focus to a strong opening trio of songs (Sad, Relaxing, Dreaming), a lulling closer (Suffering) and a mid-album highlight (Oh Baby). But the emotion that forms the focus of much of the rest of the album is confusion. The collection is hindered by too many shapeless demo-style tracks or off-centre ideas that don’t quite come together. The biggest offender is the spoken-word Thinking It, where Levi wonders whether she should be smoking or jogging over sketchy instrumentation.
This was a spontaneous recording, intentionally warts and all, so perhaps mixed results are to be expected. A handful of gems makes it almost worth it, though it takes patience to endure the work as a whole.
BY CHRIS GIRDLER
