Bachelorette - Bachelorette

Annabel is from New Zealand but currently based on the east coast of the USA. She cut her teeth in cult bands such Christchurch s psychedelic surf outfit Hawaii Five-O, Space Dust and the Hiss Explosion, then went on to complete po graduate studies in computer-based composition at the Universities of Canterbury and Auckland in New Zealand. Aft her studies, Annabel returned to what she loved best – making psychedelic pop music – and Bachelorette appeared the scene in 2005.

Her breathtaking live set developed around a band of 3 old CRT monitors, which were borrowed from acquaintance or picked up from recycling stations and thrift stores in each town. On stage, the CRT band simultaneously displaye waveform  and other synchronised visuals corresponding to separate recorded instruments, as Annabel sang and played along with them.
Though Bachelorette s third full-length record was written on Earth – Oxford, UK; Tripoli, Libya; Millwood, VA – it is more at home gliding through surreal galaxies and swimming through a matrix of coolly illuminated neural networks these journeys are the same – both echo with an aching solitude, the conditions that Annabel Alpers needs to dream her minimalist electro psych pop. And even when local sound waves enter her work – as cathedral chimes did in Oxf -- they return in swathed in a lunar halo.

The album is epic from the beginning. Hovering over a fluttering blanket of voices, a ghostly vision of the future is distilled with the same seductive inevitability of a Greek oracle. Our destiny set, Bachelorette gestures toward an alie solar system. Here, some planets shimmer, shrouded in an emerald light, another finds a civilization forever in the trance of a gorgeous mechanical heartbreak. Still other planets are pummeled by asteroids of distorted sounds and dissonant, unmusical space trash. Mixed by Nicholas Vernhes at Rare Book Room (Animal Collective, Beach House) i Brooklyn, these twelve tracks are built on minimal synth grooves, strummed guitar, innocent whistles wondering through cold hallways, and occasional accompaniment on drums. But all are guided by Bachelorette s ethereal lead vocal. This album s greatest triumph is that its abundant pop melodies displace any heroic presumption associated w such an ambitious journey. Whether wandering through your labyrinthine, echoing consciousness or embarking on a interstellar marathon, you ll want to sing along.

TRACKLISTING:

1. Grow Old With Me 2. The Light Seekers 3. Blanket 4. Polarity Party 5. Sugarbug 6. The Last Boat's Leaving 7. Tui8. Waveforms 9. Digital Brain 10. Generous Spectre 11. Not Entertainment

Be the first to review this record. Best reviewer each month gets £10 off their next order!