Goat Girl – Below the Waste
With access to time, space and trendy producers, the London trio have made their most expansive album yet
Below the Waste seeks to sift through the detritus of our broken society, figure out what's worth saving and what needs leaving behind. In this exploration the personal may inform the political, but the music is strictly the vision of three people with little time for dwelling on the past.
These 16 songs traverse a wide range of styles, from undulating electronica (words fell out, motorway) to brash, feedback-laden rock (ride around, tcnc), as well as incorporating flourishes of violin (pretty faces), mellotron (tonight) and taishogoto (perhaps). There's a sense that a closer curatorial eye may have been useful (the overstuffed play it down), especially when sparser arrangements demonstrate the power of understatement (take it away, tonight). While not outright experimental, Below the Waste is definitely adventurous with nary a moment that could be called samey.
Lyrically, there's a similar amount of coded and abstract imagery as previous releases, but the most striking moments are those that confront the addiction issues faced by drummer Rosy Jones. There are references peppered throughout, but tcnc (take care not crack) is the most direct example. Jones takes the lead here, spitting maniacal lines like 'Not gonna crack like that / Already had a spat with crack' atop the most unhinged arrangement of the album.
There's a lot to take in across the breadth of Below the Waste, but few could doubt the ecstatic creativity of this trio and their ability to take so many old parts and create something new.
Listen to: words fell out, take it away