Anna Meredith is a successful electronic composer, rightfully recognized for her charming synthesis of classic song structures with art pop, electronica, post-rock, hip-hop, and whatever else you want to read into it. Whatever that thing you think you hear in her music, you're probably right. She's phenomenally talented, drawing inspiration from nearly every tradition at once, and yet she makes this knitting of sways all seem so effortless. As strenuous as a long exhale before reciting a poem from one's childhood from memory (don't laugh, this is actually something I had to do as a kid). Those desperate click trulls over at Pitchfork have bleed quite a bit of effusive praise for Anna out of their sieve-like brains, and for once I agree with every word they're printed. Anna is, in fact, "one of the most innovative voices in British music." And yet, this statement fails to encapsulate the breadth of her musical acumen. Her debut release
Varmints, refined and narrowed her considerable talents to fit a recognizable indie rock format. Her second album
FIBS leaves her previous effort at an Arizona rest stop without a phone, directions, or fair for a bus, in order to start a new life with a maximalist rhythm section that would even make Jodorowsky say, "less is probably more." And funny enough, he'd be wrong.
FIBS is polyrhythms from ceiling to sump-pump. Every instrument, from the horns, to guitars, to the multitude of drums, and drum substitutes it introduces, they're all played with an ear bent towards their nuanced percussive properties. And somehow beautiful, flowy melodies are the result. The more I listen to tracks like "Paramour" the more my mind reels in an attempt to parse its individual concussive elements, while simultaneously, I gratefully succumbing to its generous, soothing undertow. I've never heard an album quite like
FIBS before, and it's set a new standard for avant-garde pop in my mind. It's a singular achievement and further incentive to praise Anna Meredith's prodigious capabilities. Did I mention that it sounds good? Yeah, it just sounds good and it's fun to listen to as well.
Get a copy of Fibs from their webstop
here.
