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Album Details
- Artist: Asobi Seksu
- Album: Hush
- Label:
- Year of Release: 2009
- ME Rating:
- Reviewed by: tosnob on 2009-02-26
RecommendJames Hanna and Yuki Chikudate make up the nucleus of Brooklyn neo-shoegazer band Asobi Seksu. Hush is the fourth studio album from the group.
Hush does little to dissuade those who are already fans of the band's atmospheric sound. The early-mid 90s influence of artists like Lush and Cocteau Twins shines through on the album.
Chikudate's vocals are ethereal throughout the album, and the songs for the most part are constructed around them. Those vocals create a chorus of cherubs effect on "Layers" and layout a fairytale land on "Familiar Light".
Hush's weaknesses come glaring through on "Sing Tomorrow's Praise". The music backing the vocals is thin and hollow, leaving the vocals hanging, naked and unprotected. This phenomenon is repeated on a number of tracks on the record. With a few notable exceptions, "Glacially" being one, Asobi Seksu never seems to fire on all cylinders at the same time.
"Sunshower" is one of the few tracks to takes a different turn. Crisper, brighter, and more distinct than most of the other songs on the album, it's eerily reminiscent of Blondie's "Dreaming".
Alas, too often there is a disjoint or void between the music and the vocals on Hush. One or the other tend to dominate a particular track, never quite meshing to work together.
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on 2011-10-27 CharlesMartel Said:
After listening to " Citrus" and finding its peculiar mix of twee Japanese and English vocals, with the crashing guitars and blistering cascades of layer upon layer of sound, "Hush" , the band's immediate follow-up, comes as something of a shock. If you were looking for an extension of that shoegaze sound, you will probably be disappointed with this one.
Perhaps it is because the band have undergone a serious line up change and have now been reduced to just two core members, Yuko Chikudate and James Hanna. And yet three years after "Citrus" , more than just a line-up has changed. The remaining band members have resolutely refused to push the boundaries of the sound they had created with their earlier album and instead opted to move back to the centre ground of their musical experience. They have, in fact, produced an album more dream pop than anything else.
The change is startling. Previously, having been compared (quite unfairly in my view) to Lush, Asobi Seksu now run the risk of being compared to bands like the Sundays in terms of their vocal style and late era Slowdive in terms of their music. In truth, they owe a huge debt of gratitude to the Cocteau Twins. The problem is that, after the Cocteau Twins, it became more difficult for bands to make an impression with this style of music, an axiom which Asobi Seksu have proved with "Hush" . Few bands lasted much beyond a single dream pop album after the Twins, and Asobi Seksu may find themselves falling into the same trap.
The same instrumental components are there, guitar arpeggios. rumbling percussion and bass lines, shimmering organ and Chikudate's at times absurdly-high ultra-soprano. Yet these components have been recombined in such a way as to make the sound totally different. Take, by way of example, " In the Sky" , a track which at times would not have been out of place on "Citrus" but never really manages to get going. " Transparence " and "Gliss" follow very much in the same pattern and it is hard to identify a standout track which can draw you into a greater appreciation of the album.
" Hush" is not a bad album. It is just not as good as it could have been. Perhaps Chikudate and Hanna have lost their way. Perhaps one or the other needs a new muse. They certainly need something because this is not going to last them much longer or take them much further.
Rating: 6/10
