Album Review :: Lowlakes - Iceberg Nerves

Lowlakes

Iceberg Nerves

September 1 2014 (Kunsthaus/Cargo Records)

9.5/10

Words: Dave Beech

Australia isn't quite the musical hotbed that the UK seems to be, and whilst it might seem somewhat stereotypical, it would make sense for one to assume that the Australian music that does reach us would be fuzzed-up slacker rock or laid-back surf-pop. As it happens, however, 'Iceberg Nerves', the debut album from Alice Spring's Lowlakes, is quite the opposite.

Best appreciated in its encompassing entirety, 'Iceberg Nerves' is a record full of shifting textures and sounds, ambience and intensity. Built around the title track - and, arguably, its centrepiece - the album feels fantastically conceptual, exploring themes of space and isolation; two concepts imperative to the record and to the band as a whole.

Relocating from the metropolitan Alice Springs to the relatively rural Mt Eliza in order to record, the band relished in the spaciousness, something which is reflected hugely throughout the course of 'Iceberg Nerves'. Second track 'Foundations', for instance, is an ambient and vacuous canvas, leaving plenty of room for the sharp percussion and crisp production - not too dissimilar to Burial. Later track 'Newborn' follows in a similar manner, expansive and seemingly limitless: Tom Snowdon's layered vocals soaring and falling with wistful abandon.

Nevertheless, that doesn't mean to say that the record isn't without its darker, more claustrophobic moments. Far from it. And it's the inclusion of these darker elements which provide the balance 'Iceberg Nerves' is built around. Take the aforementioned title track for instance, the first half of which is spacious and atmospheric, with only a hint of the darkness that follows. Around the halfway point, however, it implodes in to a paranoid melancholy. Following track 'Cold Company' similarly exhibits both sides of the band also; a chilly darkness pervades the whole track, which in despite of, still feels somewhat cathartic, if not uplifting. Incidently, 'Cold Company' is also the track which would best lend itself to a single, and feels like The Temper Trap in a post-London Grammar world. world. Speaking of which, the previously released 'Now, She Said' begins with a suitably London Grammar-esque piano intro, a melody which continues throughout. Like many of the tracks on 'Iceberg Nerves' the latter half falls into apparent disarray; a key change signifying an almost-collapse in structure before the familiar motif is picked up again and a semblance of order restored.

It might not be the most accessible album released this year (in fact it was already released in Australia back in February), but it is one of the most rewarding. At a little under an hour long, one would be forgiven for thinking it would take some dedication to give it multiple listens, but that simply isn't the case. It's a record that allows you to get lost within its narrative and its themes and begs repeated listens simply so one can appreciate everything it has to offer. Put simply, this is one of the best albums of the year.