The Jezabels – ‘Synthia’ [Review]
The Jezabels have a real knack for music that flows like water. Stand And Deliver pounds and washes like stormy seaside surf before the tide recedes, leaving rocky drums, the sparsest synthetic trickles, and a fiercely powerful vocal. It’s a beautiful start to a beautiful album.
Seething synthpop given guts and strength by frequent bursts of rhythmic energy and precisely timed drum work is the name of the game here. Below its perfectly imperfect surface, Synthia digs into the issue of gender roles in music. Stereotypes are questioned not only in words, but just as directly in the music itself.
The sheer fearlessness on display throughout Synthia makes this long-player far more than the sum of its parts. It’s a cinematic collection of songs to scream your heart out to, one minute busy scraping the sky, the next collapsing into torrents of relief.
Overall, Synthia is a winning combination of gritty, determined introspection and vicious, roaring, explosive energy. Album centrepiece Smile sums it all up – so head headfirst into it, as soon as you can. You will not regret it.
TMMP RATING: 85%
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Synthia drops February 12th; for more info, head to The Jezabels’ official website.