Album Review: Warpaint - Warpaint

What really propels Warpaint forward, and makes this album interesting, are Emily Kokal's ambient vocals. You can tell she's torn pages from The xx and Portishead's books on the subject. Meanwhile, Beach House and the current crop of dream-pop/gazers have also clearly gotten some inspiration from Warpaint.

The instrumentation here is complex and layered, but combines to create a sound that lacks the rock edges of their debut. Lead single Love Is To Die is a perfect illustration of this, with lush backing music and a simple hook, ”Love is to die/Love is to not die/Love is to dance”. There's more synth/keys on Warpaint than wailing electric guitar. Instead, it's a kind of experiment with polished sound, akin to The xx's sophomore album Coexist.

Disco//Very is the most blatantly danceable track thanks to that bassline, unusual percussive elements and harmonies including the whole band. It's got a real atmosphere and sexiness to it, which is saying something for a song about women who will ”kill you, rip you up and tear you in two”. Penultimate song Drive goes the other way, building into a tense atmospheric number, driven by Kokal's at-times soaring voice. Album closer Son is the most meditative and is thus impactful, in all its melodic guitar-picking and quiet splendour.

Warpaint won't win over many new fans, but those who enjoyed 2010's The Fool will be pleased. After all, they've been waiting for this follow-up for a long time.