Kendal, England's Wild Beast's latest release Smother starts with with a pulsing, minimalist synth throb that builds in intensity over the track's 4 minutes with piano, string pads, and drum machine patter that work together to create an arresting, insistent atmosphere. Hayden Thorpe sings in ethereal voice that recalls both John Jacob Nyles' ghost warble and Brian Ferry's out of breath wheeze. But when he takes a breath and digs in, this voice is a sleeping giant waking up. In the quieter moments, repetitive sample noisebeds ala Four Tet slip in and out of the arrangements. Lyrically, Smother is a pastiche of ironic melodrama ("I will lie anywhere with you, any old bed of nails will do") sprinkled with well-timed humor ("Ophelia, I feel ya").
On the downside, Smother is the kind of a appealing but forgettable sonic moodscape that can drift into the background—it's the kind of disc that you can walk away from to use the bathroom without feeling the urge to press pause, and when you come back a new track is playing the same mood, leaving no reason to rewind. But upon careful listening, this disc packs in more interesting sounds and good arrangement ideas than many similar bands are able to stretch into an entire career.
- Will Teague
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