Supersweet

Liars

Sisterworld

Label: Mute

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Inviting us into a soul-scarred record, Liars envisage an album manifested from “loss of self” in the abhorrent obscurity of Los Angeles. Though their global success means not every hillbilly-rural fan will relate to the inspiration of anonymous city life, Sisterworld offers all an outlet to escape from the dregs of music today.

Naturally, the trio enlist a funfair assortment of artists, from Thom Yorke and Kazu Makino (Blonde Redhead) to Tunde Adebimpe (TV On The Radio) and Melvins, yet not to merely collaborate, but to transform Sisterworld into an entirely separate record. So with a project encroaching into an orchestral labyrinth, Liars delivers a dedicated attempt into their feral world, deliriously compelling and sublime.

Discarded once as too extremist to be “catchy”, Liars lead with the wrist-cutting 'Scissor', threading high hollow chorals, flecks of piano and whining strings dripped behind Angus Andrew’s progressed sunken growl, for that hooked drumming guitar raid. Tearing to provoke with lyrics, “I found her with my scissor/This heart fell to the ground,” Liars unfold a suicide scene and lover’s confession of detached cowardice. Yet, in last lyrical gratitude “she’s alive…she's breathing” we understand what the fuck Sisterworld is really about: discovering any shred of survival in society. So whether it’s the underground creature existing on the graveled sounds of the “footstep girl” in ‘No Barrier Fun’ or the excitable ‘The Overachievers’ and its forestry flee from a fuelled “weed...TV...cats” life, Liars breakout a surprisingly hopeful record.

While the album underlies optimistic intent, it’s fair to say how incredibly terrifying the journey the band pave through in Sisterworld. Once the bass line births the aptly named ‘No Barrier Fun’, the unnerving track protrudes skin-crawling strung cello, ghost-train synth and the ramblings of an underground creature. Aaron’s project, ‘Here Come All The People’ is no less menacing, oscillating between the ritualistic Egyptian guitar chord progression, the whispering percussional touches and shivering lyrics, “counting victims, one by one”.

Darker still, the furiously evil ‘Scarecrows On A Killer Slant' slices through with cinematic horror chords as the song submits helplessly to the killing spree content. Breaking away from the terror, the album finds momentary peace in ethereal pulsing and sketchy piano in ‘Drip’, the so Nick Zinner (YYY’s) intro in ‘Proud Evolution’ and the off-kilter harmonies in ‘I Can See An Outside World’. Syncing in and out of their fabricated reality, the fifth record is atmospheric, expressive and every bit a masterpiece of the new decade. - Gemma Dempter