- Two desolate soundscapes that arrive ahead of a new album.
- HTRK have been a band for 15 years. In that time they've released four albums and a handful of EPs, all while weathering their share of grief. Nostalgia was self-released in Melbourne in 2005. Marry Me Tonight was produced with the cult icon Rowland S. Howard before the band moved to Berlin in 2006. That wasn't officially released until 2009, and Howard died six months later. The bassist Sean Stewart died soon after. By the time Work, Work, (Work) came around, the band's sound had shifted from the noisy apathy of its post-industrial and no wave roots.
Stewart's burgeoning creative relationship with the late-Mika Vainio could be heard in the new subsonic tones and glassy synths. Standish's impassive vocals, conveying empty sensuality, gained prominence in the mix. It's a trend that continued through 2014's Psychic 9-5 Club, which saw HTRK enter a new era as the duo of Standish and Nigel Yang, and into the duo's new single Drama.
"Mentions" and "More To Enjoy" peel away the noisy surplus of electronic layering, focusing on the guitar and vocals. This time, though, the guitar is understated. Delicate picked melodies are fed through delay effects while the fragile low-end and gentle drum sequences merge into a current of warm melancholy. Standish's typically droll lyrics give way to something more earnest in "More To Enjoy." Recorded at Standish's home in the peaceful seclusion of Victoria's Dandenong Ranges, they capture a sound that feels both new and familiar.
Tracklist01. Mentions
02. More To Enjoy