Considering all the words you could use to describe Battles previous work-- "cerebral," "kinetic," "fractal,"-- it's doubtful you'd ever say "fun." This is where the new Battles-- the post-Mirrored (or perhaps more importantly, post-Tyondai Braxton) Battles-- has changed the most, and become a better band as a result.
Instrumentally, much of the music on Gloss Drop retains a similar feel to their previous catalog. There are still the chilly electronic textures, unexpected time shifts and suite-like structures, but this time around it feels less like a post-grad dissertation on music and more like a party.
The primary change is the departure of Braxton-- who, up until Mirrored-- was just another multi-unstrumentalist in the band. It wasn't until the last album that Battles added the most unique instrument, the human voice, to their repertoire, but overall (despite the geeks that'll swear they understand the lyrics on "Atlas") it's "voice as instrument." Braxton's cartoon-like, pitch-shifted vocals on songs like "Tonto" and "Ddiamondd" created an uncanny valley-- songs that featured something like singing, but the overall effect was as glacial as the cover art; a shiny glass cube, full of instruments, but sans human performers.
Only four of the twelve songs on Gloss Drop feature vocals, but like great casting directors, Battles have picked voices that compliment the material, and push it in new, unexpected directions. Generally, my view on guest stars-- basically, anything employing the abbreviation "feat."-- suggests padding, or lack of confidence in the material. Here, the vocalists' idiosyncrasies are accentuated by the arrangements. Case in point: "My Machines" feat. (and get this): Gary Numan. There's something especially thrilling about the guy who sang "Cars" back in the 80s intoning "Listen to/the sound/of now." Another stand-out is Kazu Makino of Blonde Redhead on the song "Sweetie & Shag", where her purring through the bass-driven verse gives way to a stunning chorus with a racing, calliope-like figure that pushes against the previously straight 4/4 dance beat.
Sure, there's an over-reliance on a couple samey-sounding synth patches, but overall, the arrangements and tone are varied enough to keep things interesting. Even the songs that feel like toss-offs-- "Inchworm" and "Toddler" to name a couple-- serve to underscore the warm, human feel of this album. Sure, these tunes are goofs, but they're *Battles* goofs. Primarily, Gloss Drop feels less the effort of a bunch of brow-furrowed prog-rock acolytes and more like a quartet of really talented musicians having a good time. Hey, eggheads can party too, ya know.
[Battles Website]
[Stream Gloss Drop on Soundcloud/Buy Gloss Drop from Warp Records]
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