Wild Beasts
Present Tense
Rating: Woof Daddy
Over the course of three albums, Wild Beasts have honed their sound down to almost the basic of elements. Who would have thought that from the kaleidoscopic swirl of their art-pop debut Limbo, Panto, streamlined guitarcentric follow up Two Dancers, to 2011's almost masterpiece Smother, which jettisoned the nervous, art funk in favor of moody, atmospheric synthesizers, this band would continually push their sound to even more dizzying heights. After the lengthy touring schedule behind Smother, the band retreated and took their time with the follow up. Four years later, Wild Beasts grace us with probably their most haunting and fully realized album yet, the beguiling Present Tense.
The changes in their approach are almost immediate from the pulsating synths and drum machines on evocative first track and first single "Wanderlust." Ostensibly a critique of the British class system, Hayden Thorpe practically spits out lines like "We're decadent beyond our means, we've a zeal/We feel the things they'll never feel" and the closing kiss off "Don't confuse me with someone who gives a fuck/Funny how that little pound buy a lot of luck."
The band has stated in the press that initially Present Tense would be a completely electronic affair, losing Smother and Two Dancers producer Richard Formby and selecting Leo Abrahams, best known for Small Craft on a Milk Sea, a collaboration with Jon Hopkins and Brian Eno, and Alex 'Lexxx' Droomgoole who had worked as a mixer on those records as well. Ultimately, the record does incorporate guitars, however, instead of driving the tracks forward, they tend to act in a more textural or atmospheric sense. A friend commented that the record lacks hooks and killer choruses, and in a sense, he was correct. Wild Beasts has made the decision to follow bands like Talk Talk and Slowdive down their own rabbit hole, staking their claim on their own musical territory, without fear or regret. The songs on Present Tense float in and out of each other, anchored by the phalanx of synthesizers and the dual vocals of Hayden Thorpe's malleable falsetto and Tom Fleming's evocative baritone. Where in the past, the band chose to highlight one or the other on tracks, here, the band wisely chooses to incorporate the yin and yang of their complementary approaches to great effect on most tracks.
On past records, the band's focus was firmly entrenched in the carnal, from the bacchanalian debauchery of Limbo, Panto, to the decadently sleek tableaux of Two Dancers. As they have gotten older, they have dialed back their tales of excess, becoming more direct and forceful. Whether it be the tale of an affair with a married woman on "Nature Boy" ("Your only joy, only bliss/Your lady wife around his hips"), the bleak assessment of a future generation on "Daughters" ("All the pretty children sharpening their blades"), or even the delicate ending of a dog's life on the haunting "A Dog's Life," the band's new found economy of words suits them well, and is further intensified by the more minimalist backing.
But not to make Present Tense sound like a bleak and dour record, there are frequent moments of pure beauty. The gorgeous, swooning synths and delicate guitars on "Mecca" embolden Thorpe's affections towards a lover, “Just surrender your limbs to my every whim/now we’re lovers, we are cartwheeling.”
"Palace" evokes a storied romanticism, with Thorpe cooing such lines as “In detail you are/Even more beautiful than from afar/I could learn you like the blinded would do/Feeling our way through the dark.” While on the stunning "Sweet Spot," Thorpe and Fleming's intertwined vocals perfectly enhance the longing and yearning of the track, "Between the hurt/And the tender song/Between the flash/And the thunder's drop/There is a godless state/Where the real and the dream may consummate."
Present Tense finds Wild Beasts at the height of their game, with the songs all working beautifully as individual gems, but working together to form a gorgeous piece of interconnected art. Staking their own claim on their sound and moving it in directions once thought impossible, Wild Beasts further move into their own territory, almost peerless. Although it is early in the year, Present Tense is definitely positioning itself to be in the top records of the year, and perhaps even the best record of the year.
Rating Scale:
Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.
Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.
Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.
Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.
Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.
Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.
Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.
