Penny Sparkle for Your Thoughts

When the opportunity to review Blonde Redhead’s latest album Penny Sparkle presented itself, I was less than hesitant to accept the offer. With a 15-year body of work that transcends expectation, the enigmatic trio is able to ensnare even the most casual listener in their indomitably engaging web, and on a day in San Antonio that fostered torrential rainfall and an infinite grey sky devoid of thunder and lightning, I was no exception. The first track unraveled itself with hypnotic percussion as outside the rain fell sideways, pushed by high winds that would upend roots and shake limbs from trees before it was all through. This is how it began.

Infinite in its tranquility, grey in its unyielding moodiness, Penny Sparkle mirrors the world outside that day. An unseen force moves the songs sideways across the album like rain that blankets the earth and courses down electro-atmospheric window panes in tidy crystal rivers. Colored largely by the overtly airy voice of Kazu Makino, the synth-heavy songs swell and overflow with emotive lyrics, each line sounding like it is composed of a haunting, final breath. Instead of being rocked by thunderous booms and lightning, Penny Sparkle exercises calculated restraint in its culmination, a sparseness that in itself is shockingly powerful. Throughout the high vaults of noticeable emptiness that present themselves within each track, layers of texture inflate like thin white veils filled with the warm puff of Makino’s voice.

As the initial seconds of “Here Sometimes” roll out, its drum beat curiously akin to the “Purple Rain” intro, it’s obvious that Penny Sparkle is noticeably different from anything Blonde Redhead have done to date.  Though mild in its dance-worthy affectations, the opening track is unmistakably catchy and spills over easily into ”Not Getting There,” an even more infectious frolic through light guitars, dance-inspired drums, and a permeating voice of seduction.  This 10-track, 45-minute daydream carves out a crisp groove fraught with head-bobbing, memorable songs that, while more accessible than older BR songs, don’t necessarily lend themselves to the all-new Volkswagen CC commercial soundtrack.

A clearly distinct departure from previous albums, Penny Sparkle is the type of work that – even if you knew little about Blonde Redhead’s discography – would symbolize a band’s progressive shift in maturity and artistic vision; however, Blonde Redhead is a band that needs to prove neither its maturity nor artistic vision. Instead, Penny Sparkle stands out as an obvious trend toward a provocative minimalism that Kazu Makino’s spellbinding voice has glided toward tranquilly for the last decade and a half like kite streamers on a lazy wind.

And though the rain in S.A. is over for what may potentially be quite some time, the quiet storm of Penny Sparkle still rages on.

TRACKLIST

01 Here Sometimes
02 Not Getting There
03 Will There Be Stars
04 My Plants Are Dead
05 Love or Poison
06 Oslo
07 Penny Sparkle
08 Everything is Wrong
09 Black Guitar
10 Spain