Swan Lake - Enemy Mine (Jagjaguwar, 2009)

by Michael

8

Released 24/03/2009

Somewhat of a supergroup on our hands here. With this Canadian trio the vocals and composition are provided by a revolving cast of Carey Mercer (of Frog Eyes fame: wailing, beast-like, amazingly emotive), Spencer Krug (of Sunset Rubdown fame: starkly assertive, military, equally emotive), and Daniel Bejar (of Destroyer fame: weary, earnest, sounding a bit like Torquil Campbell if he wasn't in Law & Order, and had never watched Law & Order). As Mercer's dayjob as an English teacher would suggest, the band's lyrics and reputation are somewhat literary - this was even consciously avoided in not naming this album, as originally planned, Before The Law after a Kafka short story.

Enemy Mine, released in March of this year, opens with remarkably spikey guitars - acoustic and electric, gentle and aggressive, all merging seamlessly through slapback delay and distinctive picking, making for an exciting initial texture over a big spacious drum beat. The frantic oration of Carey Mercer spews forth, as if unmediated anguish, bringing to mind a less human-sounding and much less horny Jamie Stewart. A controlled disregard for voice-cracks and any syllabic confinement makes each of Mercer's vocal contributions an instant album highlight. Epic closer 'Warlock Psychologist', is another example, featuring menacing fuzz bass, visceral drums and grimey guitar tones, supporting Mercer at his most preacher-like. The images and references are so obscure as to give the impression that each word may have been chosen meticulously for its sound alone, and the delay adds even more impact to Mercer's devilish diction.

Krug's contributions sometimes don't venture far enough from the Sunset Rubdown palette, e.g. the rhythmically driven keyboard parts in 'Settle on Your Skin' could be straight off Random Spirit Lover, although this isn't particularly insulting, what with Sunset Rubdown also being amazing. The album's ballad 'A Hand at Dusk', also Krug-penned, has a harmonically adventurous piano part as its backbone, attemptedly subverted at the halfway point by powerful swirling synth drones. The subsequent refrain 'It's getting old, I know, I know / but you still look good to me in that knee-length checkered dress' is nothing short of heartbreaking.

Overall, a highly successful and distinctive collaboration, although appropriately or not, Mercer seems to tower above the other two contributors. Probably the second best 9-track LP of the year so far *cough Bitte Orca cough*. In addition, it is worth checking out the other projects featuring these three musicians, most notably Sunset Rubdown, Frog Eyes, Destroyer and Wolf Parade. Each offer their own distinctive dose of this brand of emotive and carefully thought out pop music.

Links:
Swan Lake at Jagjaguwar