Micachu and the Shapes: ‘Never’ (Rough Trade)
Following on from last year’s collaborative effort, Choppped and Screwed, Mica Levi and friends return with their second studio album. Ms Levi is continuing to forge her own path.
And it’s telling that this album is more accessible than that -but still delightfully skewed pop, on its’ wonderful terms. THe first time I listened to this album, I realised I had to focus on it, rather than it just playing in the background. It’s actually quite easy to get into, if you give it the benefit of the doubt. Songs like ‘Slick’ and ‘Waste’ are pop songs, they’re just pop songs delivered by-and I mean this as a compliment -an artist with a unique, visionary approach to music. After all, how many artists do you know who make their own instruments?
Yes, it will freak some folk out. Good.
Because this is proof that experimental does not have to equal unlistenable, that experimental is not mutually exclusive from pop, that experimental is not shorthand for self-indulgent.
…are you up for the challenge?
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Never is out now on Rough Trade.
