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Xiu
Xiu
The official press release for Xiu Xiu’s latest, The Air Force, concludes, “This is real life. This's a lit cigarette to the face.” I of course imagine that there’s a lot more to “real life” than the “bad love, suicide, rape, sex, stormy friendship, domination, dependency” that the promotional document is selling. Leader Jamie Stewart once again accentuates the perverse, the tragic and the extreme. It may be more accurate to say that The Air Force, like Xiu Xiu’s past efforts, is not about real life in general, but about magnifying its uncomfortable edges. On the upside, Stewart’s compositions, more elegant with each passing album, continue to be play with unusual instrumentation, dissonance, restless jerky rhythms, and a universe of parts and dynamics. His smoky voice and atypical phrasing by now resembles late-period Scott Walker more than Morrissey, in both color and phrasing. The product this time sounds better than ever – huge, highly textured, and worthy of every audiophile’s attention. On the downside, his attempts to evoke pathos, from the elegiac spoken parts to melodic vocal flourishes, not to mention the over-baked lyrics, Stewart remains a bit much. But, in all fairness, I recognize that ambitious artists who aren’t afraid of sounding affected, the Leonard Cohens and the Nick Caves and, yes, of course the Walkers and Morrisseys of this world (or heck, Shattners or Rimbauds), are the ones who stand a chance of really moving you more than the ones who never go out on an expressive limb at all. And Stewart certainly succeeds much better than most out there in dabbling in melodrama and pomp without sounding one-hundred-percent corny. And his pervyness as always negates a bit of his pretension, saving him in the end (the conclusion, ”’I want to finger every teenager I see,’ is the last thing you say to me/don’t make fun of my night out”). In summation, The Air Force is some very challenging, imaginative, and well-recorded music - too good for me to ignore. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything by Xiu Xiu as masterfully constructed and well conceived. On the other hand, it’s a bit Broadway. But isn’t that what people want from this guy and hasn’t rock’n’roll always had a thetrical quality to its "sincerity" anyway? Maybe it is a grower… On a side note, Xiu Xiu should be given props for devoting space in their insert to promote an excellent cause, The Prison Literature Project. I hope that you will look into it as well and other artists will follow suit.
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