Album Review: Songs - Malabar

After their refreshingly raucous take on psychedelic shoegaze on their eponymous debut in 2009, Sydney quartet Songs fled into the wilderness from whence they came, leaving a mark yet looking destined not to build on it. Premiere singer-songwriters Max Doyle and Ela Stiles never intended to stay in obscurity though, and with their follow-up record Malabar have matched the benchmark set by their impressive start.

Starting with the loud, atmospheric but almost perfunctory Alone When I'm With You, Malabar truly shows what it's made of on Boy/Girl, Doyle and Stiles' entwining vocals pinned down by a repetitive motorik composition that belies its sonorous warmth. Looking Without Seeing drifts off the deep end into some languorous psych meanderings, aided by soaring vocals and flautist flourishes. Yo La Tengo and Guided By Voices influences lick at the edges of Good Times and The Country, a buoyant middle stretch that is ended by the brooding Ringing Bells. The title track wouldn't be that out of place next to 21^st century psych veterans such as Black Mountain or The Black Angels, despite the slightly inane lyrics offering rote rhyming schemes and flippant geographical reference points. That said, Stiles steps up to the mic on Ever Since The Time and delivers a scarily prescient representation of Patti Smith, all fire and gravitas in an about-turn that is jaw-dropping in its innate power.

Malabar, whilst more adventurous and confident than Songs, still suffers from not being wholly cohesive as an album. Nevertheless, the quartet is building a repertoire for steely determination and a propensity to travel to the outer sonic limits and, while such experimentation continues, Songs remain a worthwhile investment.