Buzzin Music

High Places vs. Mankind – High Places – album review

High Places vs. Mankind

Following on from a successful debut album (self-titled) and working off the back of a lovely single (‘I Was Born’), High Places are most likely hoping to churn back up some of the cult acclaim they receive from time to time and turn into alternative mainstays. With the style they had on their self-titled debut – a sort of tropical mish-mash of metallic clangs, trebly vocals and looped drums – they would be rightful possessors of such a tag, so there’s a lot riding on this second main release.

Whilst the same sort of processes are there on High Places vs. Mankind – looped found sounds, reverberating drum loops and lilting vocal– their sound has undoubtedly changed. Gone are the tropical, meandering dreamlike compositions present all throughout the debut, and in its place is a much icier sound, reflected in some of the subject matter – addiction and death, for instance.  Elsewhere there are more distinguishable guitar lines than before.

Mary Pearson’s vocals have grown to sound more like Karin Dreijer’s or Beach House’s Victoria Legrand’s, such as on ‘On Giving Up’, with an icy repetition of ‘Tonight is going to be the night’ making something expectant sound like the final words of a murderer planning to take revenge on an ex-lover.

The tracks don’t sound as wonderfully cluttered as they previously did, either. Where, on High Places, they worked like clashing neon patchworks, High Places vs. Mankind works like a sparsely painted canvas, and songs like ‘She’s A Wild Horse’ or ‘Canada’ demonstrate this point

Yet it is precisely this ability to create songs that sound like whole pieces of art – like a collage whereby elements recur and give a theme underpinned by intermittent points of interest –that makes High Places so fantastic. The songs are never rushing to get to an end or a swelling chorus, but just kind of ‘are’, like a minimal or dub release just ‘is’.

They may have relocated from Hawaii to Moscow with regards to their sound, but High Places vs. Mankind is still recognisable as High Places, and for that, we can only be thankful.

High Places vs. Mankind is released on Thrill Jockey on April 6th. Well worth it.

Here are details of the UK tour:
3-May-10                Brighton  –   Freebutt
4-May-10                London -  Cargo
5-May-10                Dublin -  Whelans
6-May-10                Glasgow  -  Nice & Sleazy
7-May-10                Sheffield   –   The Harley
8-May-10                Leeds  -  The Brudenell Social Club

And there’s a free MP3 here. Here is High Places’ MySpace page.