Skep Wax
Carrying on from a richly productive 2023, Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey’s stealthily effective Skep Wax label set-up has this year continued to alternate between curating latter-day ventures from indie-pop veterans and nurturing newer talents. Whilst this has manifested in a slightly lower output in terms of records released, in favour of more live events, the tail end of 2024 and the start of 2025 seems set to rebalance things a tad in terms of dispensing a larger number of studio-generated products. Enter then, as part of all this, the debut album from London-based quartet Sassyhiya.
Although long-preceding and deeply infectious lead single “Kirsten Stewart” — with its hybridisation of early-’80s post-punk aesthetics and mid-’80s DIY spirit wrapping-up an affectionate homage to the film star of the song title — gave the initial impression of a novelty value enterprise, the full duration of
Take You Somewhere brings out a deeper and more
eclectic-minded collective character into the world. Forged from the combined skills of
Kathy Wright (vocals / guitar),
Helen Skinner (vocals / bass),
Pablo Paganotto (drums) and
Neiloy Mookherjee (guitar), this twelve-track selection strikes a fruitful balance of historical plundering and youthful freshness.
Thus, proceedings shift through buoyant but subtly ominous art-punk (“Boat Called Predator” and “Puppet Museum”);
communalist angularity akin to
The Raincoats and
Kleenex (“I Had A Thought” and “Thank You And Goodbye”); warm harmony-layered meldings of
Heavenly and
The Go-Betweens (the title track and “Let’s See What We Can Find”); polyrhythm-backed twirling and twinning (“On Our Way”); ethereal
Young Marble Giants-meets-
Lush dreaminess (“Try Try Try”); and obliquely boogieing garage-rock (“You Can Give It (But You Can’t Take It)”). Threading it all together cohesively are some noticeable
Television-indebted guitar stylings, dexterous vocal interplay and clever lyricism.
Even though a good few spins are required before all of its charms rise to the surface, once you find them Take You Somewhere reveals itself as an impressively intelligent and inventive inaugural statement.
-Adrian-
Carrying on from a richly productive 2023, Amelia Fletcher and Rob Pursey’s stealthily effective Skep Wax label set-up has this year continued to alternate between curating latter-day ventures from indie-pop veterans and nurturing newer talents. Whilst this has manifested in a slightly lower output in terms of records released, in favour of more live events, the tail end of 2024 and the start of 2025 seems set to rebalance things a tad in terms of dispensing a larger number of studio-generated products. Enter then, as part of all this, the debut album from London-based quartet Sassyhiya.
