Album Review: Chad Vangaalan - Shrink Dust

Chad VanGaalen's fifth studio album for Sub Pop doesn't veer far from the weird-folk territory he calls home. The record is littered with strange combinations of noises and ideas, with brittle balladry hiding underneath swathes of synth patterns and rhythms often acting independently of each other. His usual fascination with self-destruction and morose character sketching is pulled back a little in favour of broader strokes, sometimes even becoming cinematic (Lila for example). It's a more accessible record, and that works wonders for his appeal. His experimentation can be testing, but that's far more subtle here.