(2021) Jaala - Gap Tooth


Review:
On Jaala’s first two albums, 2015’s Hard Hold and 2018’s Joonya Spirit, guitars, drums, bass and vocals ricocheted across the stereo spectrum in a frantic scramble, sharing musical DNA with fellow adventurers such as Deerhoof. The Melbourne band’s sound was all angles and elbows, a jagged web of exciting shapes protecting a tender, wounded core. On their new album Gap Tooth, the bruised soul of songwriter Cosima Jaala is laid bare. Her quartet has become a trio, subbing out second guitar and bass for new member Carolyn Schofield (Fia Fiell) on synths, piano and violin, while drummer Maria Moles remains the band’s fluttering heart. This time around, the guitar and drums’ nervous, shifting gestures are coddled by Schofield’s soundscapes to narcotic effect, while Jaala’s vocals explore themes of falling in love, opening up, and growing through pain rather than being lost in its convulsions. Schofield’s contributions are most overt on stunning first single “Workhorse,” as she sets up a woozy synth arpeggio, over which pedalled chord washes ebb and flow, Jaala confessing her love: “Out of nowhere you’re there for me / You love me more than you’re allowed to / I’m in line with love / Your precious heart isn’t hard like the others.” The track’s languorous sway feels like listening to hip-hop at half speed, and culminates in some fantastic breakbeats from Moles. Opener “All Here” is similarly gorgeous, tracing strident, reverb-drenched guitar lines over plangent major-sevenths. The album takes a bit of a detour into more conventional territory during its middle third. On “Funny Shape,” the ascending flashes of piano suggest a warped take on smooth, supper jazz, while “Which Way” exhibits the muscular swing of brassy soul music. Late highlight “I Love You (DJ Set)” foreground’s Jaala’s trademark scurrying, spidery guitar over a smoky trip-hop groove reminiscent of co-producer Nick Herrera’s band Kalacoma, who used to include Moles among their number. Although Gap Tooth does miss some of the fizzing dynamism of Jaala’s earlier records, the band compensates for this with a consistent, affecting mood that proves immersive and intoxicating.





Track Listing:
1.All Here 05:16
2.Fuck To The Radio 04:04
3.Workhorse 05:30
4.Been Bad 04:00
5.Funny Shapes 04:14
6.Which Way 04:54
7.I Love You (Dj Set) 05:41
8.Catterpil 05:35


Media Report:
Genre: dream-pop, indie-rock
Country: Australia
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits