Immersion – What Is Lost Will Return (swim~)
The electronic duo’s eleventh studio album is probably their best so far and a contender for album of the year. First track ‘Nephology’ is funky bass driven and themed on a metaphorical analysis of clouds and their potential for change and transformation (hope) as well unpredictability, mystery and illusion. As has been their vocal pattern throughout their formation, Colin Newman provides the narrative while Malka Spigel sings the choral melody, a job she is apt to from her Minimal Compact days.
Single ‘We Don’t Need Your Validation’ is a sarcastic jibe at the social media and information age, where how many online followers one has defines one’s worth as a person, via external validation with Newman remarking, “We won’t tick the box required; we don’t need to be admired”. It’s the most Wire sounding song on the release, with Newman’s chiming guitar and both members singing in duet.
‘Megafauna’, as its name suggests, brings sounds of primordial wilderness through ambient jungle twang; as an instrumental piece it contains no vocals as a reflective pause in the middle of the track list. Final single and the title track ‘What Is Lost Will Return’ is reminiscent of the duo’s earlier ‘Nanocluster, Volume 2’ track, ‘Other Ways’ or their last album’s ‘How to Be’; whilst it maintains relative ambiental tranquility, it also contains an urgency in the form of electronic speed symbolic of a chaotic world and brims with Newman’s philosophy about division, labels and humanity’s ability to self-sabotage.
Towards the end of the track list, the Kraftwerk infused ‘Radio Signals’ continues the theme of chaos in a world gone mad, also having a personal meaning for the duo who host their own weekly radio show, ‘Swimming in Sound’; it’s the only track that sees Newman’s more overt singing. The album closes on the transistorial ‘Frequencies and Echoes’ of white noise and disembodied, distorted voices, a reminder of the playful innocence of humanity amidst a melancholic outlook. Not just being an electronic-ambient genre, Newman and Spiegel have also incorporated dance music and membranic melodies into their pourings of educative imaginings, which, when you think about it, is quite remarkable.
‘What Is Lost Will Return’ is available now on vinyl, CD and digitally.
© Ayisha Khan.
The Rezillos – Psycho Tornado (Last Night in Glasgow)
Their first studio album in 11 years, Scottish punk and new wave beat band the Rezillos return to their former glory with what is only their third studio album to date. The band lineup has changed over that time but founding members and dual singers Fay Fife and Eugene Reynolds remain at its beating heart and alternate on lead vocals throughout this album.
The release retains its punk roots showing that in 2026, som 50 years after its beginnings, the genre is more alive than ever, with opening track ‘Sugar Punk Fairy’ summating this with Pistols’ styled three-chord and weedy Dead Kennedys riffs; the song also demonstrating the album’s infectious lyrical hooks. ‘Down to Earth’, while being a simplistic punk, explodes in your face showing again how this genre never dies, with biting sardonic humour and drum bashings theming on the fuck ups of war as a “same old story” complete with crashing aeroplane noises that echo the song title.
‘Peppermint Lounge’ is a more unusual nostalgia track that harkens back to the 1970s’ New York City days of glam rock and unconventional and seedy female characters (the band having recorded their seminal debut studio album, ‘Can’t Stand the Rezillos’, there in 1978). The album single is what it says on the tin – sticking it to the ‘Cranium’, extraterrestrial vocal squeams and pinches of Skids’ sounding guitars. ‘Curse of the Pretty Man’ has dual guitar layers helped out on duties by album producer Martin Metcalfe of Goodbye Mr MacKenzie.
More variation in genre arrives in ‘3-Man Junkie Riot’, which has Johnny Cash rockabilly vibes breaking out into an instrumental fanfare while ‘Edge of Delight’ (also worthy of being a single on this release) is clearly Trump themed; its garish vocals are hellish. Final track ‘Be My Guy – Do or Die’ is sung by Fife, with Reynolds on backing vocals; the whole song has a psychedelic whirlpool sound that time warps back to the ’60s, also being an influence on this ’70s punk band. A strong contender for album of the year.
‘Psycho Tornado’ is available now on coloured vinyl, vinyl, CD and digitally.
© Ayisha Khan.