I so wanted to begin this with something along the lines of ‘Her out of Ash in No-Prop Pop Shock’ or ‘Pouting Pop Princess Pulls No Punches in Punchy Rights of Passage Release’ but I thought I would leave that to the tabloids, who instead of opening doors on emerging complex talents like Ms H, are the first hands grappling for the ‘wardrobe malfunction’ on scary, aging reptiles like Whitney Houston. So in its place, you’ll just have to settle for an assurance that ‘New Worlds’ ranks as Hatherley’s most consistent effort to date and one of the best ‘clever-pop’ releases of 2009. If ‘Two Suns’ by Bat For Lashes represents the journey of the id, then ‘New Worlds’ represents the sweaty, furtive joyride of the loins. It’s a companion piece, of sorts.
For those already familiar with her work away from Ash, there are probably no surprises. The gentle psychedelia of ‘Cinnabar’ and the shuffling, agile silliness of showtunes like ‘Firebird’ are proof that Hatherley’s ‘search for truth and honesty’ hasn’t staled her sense of the absurd, just as tracks like ‘Full Circles’ suggests it hasn’t satisfied her appetite for honest-to-goodness sex either. Always a bonus in my book. It’s much the same old brew, only this time it’s been cold-filtered. The riffs are more burly, the chord changes less exhausting, the melodies more clearly defined, and the cheekbones and the bar have been raised that little bit higher. ‘New Worlds’ really amounts to the difference between consuming a tasty but heavily fortified beverage you picked up in Asda and one that has been maturing in old Sherry Casks for the best part of thirty-years. She clearly hasn’t ditched her Ramones and Blondie records completely, but if the wistful and elusive, ‘Alexander’ is anything to go by, the album has far more in common with the ringing, dreaming spires of Stephen Duffy’s Lilac Time and XTC than it does the splay-legged ‘alpha-punk’ of Wheeler’s Ash. And just to push home the point, nu-folk geezer and all round sonic guru, Adem pops up on a variety of instruments and in a miscellany of roles on the album’s sparkling closer, ‘Wrong Notes’. How much more serious can it get?
It’s Pandora’s Box alright – but it’s been wedged open with Charlotte’s battered old Fender Strat, a copy of Roger Vadim’s ‘Barbarella’ and a good solid mouthful of phlegm.
The dog’s bollocks never tasted so good.
CHARLOTTLE HATHERLEY – ‘NEW WORLDS’ OUT NOW.