Review: Cults – “Static”

 

 

Cults
Static

Columbia Records – October 15th 2013
By Joshua Khan (@blaremag)
Find it at: iTunes | Insound | HMV Digital

 

8.5



 

 


Static isn’t a break-up record. As much as it could be on some level, Manhattan’s Cults pump it full of whirring soul/electro pop that’s more visceral than distant and likely to stare at weird shapes than make sure they fit. And amidst a personal split, recreational voyages, and a brief confrontation with singledom, the group have still managed to write a dance LP without the beats or cheesy funk sampling. In hindsight, it’s breathtaking and audacious: “So Far” and “Shine A Light” buzz like illustrative ear candy, “Always Forever” is a scarring piece of bubblegum pop, and in the trenches, “We’ve Got It” renders sinisterly sweet effects only to coil around Madeline Follin’s painfully honest voice. Static’s biggest reveal is that Cults’ musings have now become explosive pop numbers that are too decadent to sit next to anything else on the charts. With looser tones and amplified layers (see “High Road”), they capitalize on the edge and beauty of orchestration, reviving a grainy afterglow that would have been perfect for Lost In Translation.

Listen: “Always Forever”, “We’ve Got It”, “Shine A Light”, “Were Before” || Watch: “High Road”

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