[rating=7.oo]
Graphism, the sophomore album by Boston trio Pale Hands, is a concentrated romp through nostalgic visions of trendy dance clubs in the 1980s. With swirling, saturated synthesizers and pulsing basslines, the trio dashes through a too-short collection of retro-pop gems. The added impact of guitarist Nick Murphy brings a bit more of a rock influence to the band, though vintage electro-pop is still the order of the day.
Album opener “Dress Casual” is a hook-laden exploration of the awkwardness of social anxiety. “Thoughts run a thousand miles before I open up the door,” Jen Johnson sings over throbbing synths. In the chorus, Johnson sings, “Act natural; dress casual; that’s what everybody wants this time,” a pep talk that carries a bit of a warning and a quest for acceptance.
“Shapeshifters” is an optimistic mid-tempo pop song, Mike Latulippe’s shimmering synths warmly wrapping themselves around Johnson’s vocals. “I forget my destiny. I forget all the things I was supposed to be. I move just like I am shapeshifting when I’m with you,” she sings.
“Into the Quiet” pairs Latulippe’s propulsive rhythms with Murphy’s anachronistic guitar arpeggios, resulting in a discordant pop gem. “Lower Than Low” features Johnson’s greatest vocal moments, particularly in the ethereal, range-stretching chorus. Johnson sings of codependency and the emotional swings that go with relationships. “Lower than low in the night time. Before you know it I am higher than high,” she sings.
Graphism is a step forward for the band that showed promise with 2014’s Spirit Lines. Pale Hands are still at their best in the upbeat dance songs, though the slower, more introspective tracks do well to balance out their more hectic counterparts. The album’s biggest flaw is that there just isn’t enough there. With only eight tracks and none clocking in over four minutes, there isn’t a lot of time for Pale Hands to explore their pop territory. On the positive side, Graphism doesn’t exactly spend time meandering, either. From start to finish, the Pale Hands deliver tightly crafted pop songs that feel like a bygone era but still resonate today.
Editors Note – As a result of the recent U.S. Election the band is haulting further promotion of the album and donating all money that was to their further promotional and touring budgets to various non-profit organizations.
Read a full statement from the band below:
In the fall of 2015, Pale Hands started crafting what would be our sophomore record. We wanted to make an upbeat pop record – one that you could dance to. We started, stopped, started, stopped, started once more and pulled out of magical thin air Graphism – a collection of 8 songs that mean the world to us. We finished the record in late August and set it aside to release this Friday, November 18. Since then we’ve been honing our live sound and playing some smaller shows to figure out just how our new 3-piece would work.
Then the election happened.
We’re going to level with you – it feels a bit detached to be releasing a record this week. With everything going on, we sort of forgot that the date the three of us had been looking forward to since the summer was right on top of us. To a degree, I think we all thought “should we be releasing an album of dance songs right now? Is this what we all need?” What the fuck are we doing?
Much like everyone else, when something happens in our lives – good, bad, lucky, unfortunate, aggravating, jaw dropping, soul searching and anything in-between – we turn to records. Music has always been a place of better understanding of our lives and the world that surrounds us. The only way we’ve been able to feel an ounce better about the divisiveness of this election is to throw on some records and promise to get more involved.
That said, every single dime of this record, plus the money we would spend on making a video and touring, will be going to the organizations listed below.
Wolf-Pac
Planned Parenthood
Center for Reproductive Rights
NRDC
International Refugee Assistance Project
NAACP Legal Defense Fund
The Trevor Project
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
If you don’t have the money, give your time. If you don’t have the time, donate money. If you don’t have either, then this record is for you. We want it to be heard and we want it to bring you some comfort, joy and understanding during some truly disorienting, frustrating and frightening times.
We hope it’ll help you the way that it’s helped us.
Love and Peace,
Pale Hands
Jen, Mike and Nick
