The Green Child – Shimmering Basset

Upset The Rhythm

The opener from the latest Green Child album Shimmering Basset moves like a dream; the drunken, weaving synths and Raven Mahon‘s light, airy vocals are captivating. It is all synthy heaven and stuns of spectral guitar, as if the duo caught sight of an ’80s synth band through a fun house mirror and added some post-modern vibe to it.

It all kind of sounds familiar, but not really; the breeze of the electronics, the light touches, the abstract imagery — it is all whisked up into a frothy delight that is topped with Raven’s delightful voice. There is an effortless cool here, an intoxicating simplicity and it is intoxicated in its delivery. The obscure lyrics also draw you in, as when they sing “Simple but how? / You are in my cells” on “Dreamcom”, it really does cause you to ask questions.

The keys seem out of kilter at times, the drumming has a pretty idiosyncratic approach, but though it all, the voice is unruffled and floating across whatever patchwork of sounds is cobbled together. “Tony Bandana” is pretty heavy, with some real oomph in the bass courtesy of Arron Mawson, but the xylophone and bicycle spoke-filled “Health Farm” sounds as if it is about to collapse. The intriguing synth and awkward rhythm is like somebody half-heard and half-remembered a Thompson Twins track and then reimagined and rewrote it.

The Green Child manage to use the simplest ingredients to produce quite the narcotic brew and at times it is as if the synths are alien, somehow producing unexpected sensations. The woozy air on the hall of mirrors-like “Smart Clothes” is a case in point. The words are puzzling, the wheezing rhythm is on the verge of collapse and yet it still seduces. A clarinet comes from out of nowhere on “The Installation” and their cover of Andy Kim‘s “Resurrection” is the straightest song on the album, with a simple guitar strum highlighting Raven’s voice to great effect. It’s a shame when the final track rushes round. The way the oblique poetry sits with the romantic synth lines and the Casio beats is a match made in heaven, and the way it drifts into silence at the end makes it feel like some spectral dream.

Bravo to Upset The Rhyhtm for putting this out on LP, and three cheers to The Green Child for producing this odd but charming collection of alternative chart-toppers. If only there was some justice in the music world.

-Mr Olivetti-