(2023) jellyskin - In Brine
Review:
Leeds electronic duo jellyskin release their long-gestating magnum opus In Brine, an Aphex Twin-tinged tribute to the sea. Their bass-entrenched, melancholic, noise-rock-spliced techno also oozes a nourishing level of pop goodness, evoking artists like Broadcast. The band comprises Will Ainsley and Zia Larty-Healy: having met whilst both studying English Literature at Leeds University, an adoration for techno nights in the city nurtured their relationship, as well as the ease with which jellyskin was born. Across the album’s supremely satisfying course, with upbeat and more sombre, melancholic balladry segueing like undulating waves, both band members contribute synth parts and lyrics; Ainsley also integrates guitar parts, and backing vocals; Larty-Healy, meanwhile, brings beautifully poppy vocals (and also designed the striking album cover). This holistic quality – of each half of the group jointly performing some musical tasks, and utilising their full talents individually elsewhere – is firmly felt through the album’s varied but wholly focused, precise body. Similarly, In Brine has a balance of avant-garde electronic worship and pop indulgence. The album marries a pop jouissance that evokes powerhouse artists like Sharon Van Etten or Caroline Polachek, alongside the avant-garde electronics of Aphex Twin and Gazelle Twin, with the more noisome, bellicose rumblings of Petbrick’s acid-fried techno storm. With this seamless smoothie of melodic sweetness and fractious, discordant noise, the duo are also reminiscent of Petbrick; traces of the electronic noise-rock duo’s labelmate J. Zunz, and her mesmeric, repetition-laden synth spectacles, also appear on In Brine. Through their love of techno, however, Ainsley and Larty-Healy tap into an altogether different, slightly more hedonistic and seductive strain of engrossing avant-garde techno. For a range of reasons – from pandemic-related to achieving the perfect mix and vision as a whole – In Brine took shape from 2018-2022. This clear vision was also honed by Berlin-based co-producer, mixer and masterer Lewis D-t. Its lengthy gestation proved to be massively rewarding, bringing several benefits: one, the crystalline mixing; another, the tracklist, spinning through peaks and troughs of pulsing techno bangers and hypnagogic poppy ballads in zealous, zany fashion. It is also bookended by impeccable greatness. Lift (Come In), revolving around a fondness for elevators, welcomes the ears into jellyskin’s sonic world both literally and figuratively, as the doors open onto a refreshing environment of beguiling electronics and vocals. Featuring an entrancing, catchy spoken word refrain and a sublime seabed of burgeoning synths, an addictively enigmatic guitar interlude dulcifies the electronic murkiness. The surprising, refreshing guitar part also speaks to the unpredictability of the album (and band generally). Larty-Healy’s pop-indebted, iridescent vocals and lyrics enhance Fox Again, an already idyllic track formed by synapse-unsettling, sweeping synths akin to those made by Richard D. James. These two opposed yet complimentary elements result in one of the album’s most noxious, haunting yet divine combos. Musical and lyrical intrigue flows in abundance on Chicken, Milk and Oranges. Intense and dryly emitted, Zia Larty-Healy evokes Caroline Polachek’s distinctive vocal delivery over another relentless techno beat; the lyrical slant – an unfurling narrative of an unusual shopping list trio – displays the band’s ability to transmogrify the mundane into something abstract and truly memorable. Marmalade and 52 blue, meanwhile, offer another jellyskin aspect: both are primordial electro bangers propelled by the melodic verve of Broadcast but emboldened by the Leeds band’s own melding of wrought noise. The latter is a characteristically sea-based topic on the ’52-Hz whale’, ‘the loneliest whale in the world’; the whale that emits calls at a far higher pitch than usual, stopping its voice being received by potential mates. The track’s irresistible, thumping escapism, and lyrics echoing the whale’s fight against isolation, feel like a commentary of accepting loss even as a ‘big strong man’; loneliness and the like have to be, to some extent, embraced if it is to be overcome, irrespective of size or species. Alongside aquatic concepts, the lyrical themes stretch to metaphors linking the sea to almost ubiquitous emotional territory. Self-discovery, adaptation, and evolution swim amongst the nautical realm too, through imagery of traversing the sea and land; in a similar difficulty to which some tackle barre terrains scorched by capitalism, racism, and more. Tetrapod issues these feelings, but the whole album’s sonic waves are also soaked in them. Irresistibly dance-inducing, motorik-ish, relentless synth beats make In Brine emphatically cohesive, while nuanced touches – field recordings, off-kilter guitar, poppish yet diverse vocals – provide a singular, inexplicable quality. Not only an essential electronic magnum opus, jellyskin’s debut is a listening imperative for 2023 and beyond. — louderthanwar.com
Track List:
01 - Lift (Come In)
02 - Bringer of Brine
03 - Fox Again
04 - Chicken, Milk and Oranges
05 - Marmalade
06 - I Was the First Tetrapod
07 - Pulpy Mouth and Skin
08 - 52 Blue
09 - Punnet
Media Report:
Genre: art pop, electronic, post-punk
Country: Leeds, UK
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits
Compression mode: Lossless
Writing library: libFLAC 1.2.1 (UTC 2007-09-17)
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