Girlflesh - Nudes

I think that when I first came upon Girlflesh the one sole element about her music that hooked me the most was its experimental nature. Sure, it does have a major focus on down-tempo beats and slow moving, but driving electronic atmospheres, but to pinpoint a genre with this album would be futile. However, if there is any one fact that I can shout out to the Heavens regarding Nudes, it would have to be that it's completely and utterly fantastic.

I could see a few people trying to complain about the length of the release, as it does come in under a half hour, but I completely disregard that thought. This is a case where quality shreds quantity; the nine tracks provided are enough to get you both hooked on this album and the artist's music.

The title track of the album kicks off first, with a slight, waving noise coming in followed by strands of electronic bits. Slowly, the drum work is incorporated with it, and the whole album's tone is set from this one song. If you don't like the intro track, you might as well step away from the rest of the album because, baby, the album won't dive into much happier territory than that.

With the second track, Bulimia, we're given the first taste of Girlflesh's vocals. Sounding seductive and yet tortured at the same time, as if a succubus bringing you to your knees, the glitchy presentation was wonderful. Slight distortion helps the overall bleak atmosphere, and from here on out, I was dragged into this sinister world.

Stockholm Syndrome continued the presentation of creepy vocals, and the line "Won't you stay for a while longer?" had an excellent delivery at the end of the song. Unexpectedly untouched by digital effects, it was sweet and sour at the same time. It was glorious.

I Only Think of Death had to have been one of my favorite songs due to its odd sounds placed within. They could only be described as electronic sounds straight from a Hellish coma. But they were wonderful, nonetheless. Spider Blue shot in next, and while it didn't go for anything completely new, it stayed well within the morbid tomb Girlflesh had already established, and kept in touch with the rest of the foreboding tracks.

An underlying noise serves well for Gore Habit, while Bass-Moi served out a single line of lyric which, while being repetitive, worked well enough. Wrath had the speediest vocal delivery, but it wasn't hectic. It sort of came out like a spoken word track, but with a slight smooth rhythm to it. And, lastly, Ennui 4EVA leads us out of the album with a few moans here and there, and some nice touches of bass to the notes.

Forgive me if I came off a little too enthusiastic about this album, but, quite frankly, I don't give a damn. By listening to this album multiple times throughout the past couple of days, I found out that simplicity can work wonders. With Girlflesh, her beats are never complex, but they are absolutely spot on with both her vocals and her style.

In the interview I just had with her, she stated, "So much time was spent forcing myself to make what I thought others wanted, that I forgot why I started making music in the first place. In the end I just stopped worrying and started experimenting..." and I am absolutely glad she chose to go on her own path rather than following trends. The music is great, I love the lyrical content, and from here you can only get better and better. Keep doing what you're doing.

You can get Nudes from Bandcamp under the "name your price" model now. I wouldn't hesitate to get it if I were you. Jan 02 2015