Warpaint - Radiate Like This

 

Fond as I am and have been of Warpaint, first listen of their new album Radiate Like This I didn't stay the course. Second play I did. Third and fourth play I'm a convert.

Unusual band. When they first emerged fiften years back, they seemed a genuinely leftfield proposition. I saw them play at round about that point, between their first and second record, at the mid sized Academy venue just down the road from me and they were magnificent.

Albums two three and four have followed, three or four years down the line since then. They don't seem to be in a particular hurry. These albums have been increasingly studio focussed affairs. They've become musos, for better or worse. I'm increasingly convinced it's for the better.

 Radiate Like This is state of the art. The musicians, instrumentation and vocals are finely defined. There's a lot of space. It's very sensual. Immaculate. Very West Coast. California. Stevie's Fleetwood Mac. 

But this also reminded me of a handful early Eighties British records which aspired to this kind of silky texture. Japan's Tin Drum, Simple Minds New Gold Dream and Roxy Music's Avalon. Aspiring to the immaculate which requires unparalled musicianship first and foremost. Warpaint certainly have that.

 Radiate Like This is a record that will cast a spell the more you play it. Some early Warpaint fans may have deserted them by now but there will still be an audience for this. They maintain their own singular course. Even though on the surface they seem a little faceless now, that's clearly not something they care much about either way. It has to be said they still don't sound quite like anyone else around now. Ultimately  can you ask?