Album Review: Cut Copy - Free Your Mind

Cut Copy’s fourth studio album Free Your Mind is, for want of a better word, dance. But this isn’t the type of the dance music you vaguely remember after a night out consisting solely of double vodka red bulls – I’m talking about you, Guetta. No, this is proper, unadulterated dance music.

More than just an album title, Free Your Mind is closer to an invitation from the Australian electronic band as they take the listener through a mind-bending, acid house journey. Most importantly, though, Cut Copy want you to have fun and become “one with the music”. Title single, ‘Free Your Mind’ (duh!), takes heed from Madchester legends Happy Mondays – employing a bouncy loop track designed to get even the most rhythmically challenged up and dancing.

Much like their Oz compatriots, Jagwar Ma, the group clearly reference the thriving Madchester scene of the 80/90s during the course of the record. ‘Footsteps’, chock full of skittish samples, is underpinned by a rave-inducing bass synth worthy enough to grace the mythical Haçienda. ‘Walking In The Sky’ instead points the finger at Primal Scream. The track gracefully lowers the tempo, proffering the record’s sing-along moment. In a seemingly spiritual fashion, frontman Dan Whitford chants: “You gotta free your mind, life is all your own design,” – a mantra undoubtedly endorsed by the quartet.

They may take inspiration from a baggier era, but Cut Copy certainly can’t be classed as copy-cats. This is by no means a Now That’s What I Call Madchester. ‘Free Your Mind’ explores a world of sonic possibilities. This can probably be attributed to Whitford’s new approach to songwriting, roughly sketching a song a day for four months. These embryonic tracks would then be presented to the band, allowing them to collectively build them in any way they saw fit. Songs like the glossy, progressive ‘We Are Explorers’ present the fruits of this process.

What makes ‘Free Your Mind’ such a success is its strength as a body of work. No track is weak, and although standing alone as killer tunes, they truly shine as a collection. Songs flow naturally into one another, visiting an array of moods and styles. Interludes littered between tracks such as the futuristic ‘Into the Desert’ add to this effect. For this mastery, plaudits have to go to Dave Fridmann (The Flaming Lips, Tame Impala, MGMT) on mixing duties – his psychedelic style the perfect companion to the band’s vision.

Parts of the record may not be to everyone’s taste, but the finished product is a truly rewarding experience. Essentially, it’s the sound of Cut Copy scrapping the rulebook. This is best portrayed on gargantuan stand-out track, ‘Meet Me In A House Of Love’ – a cocktail of sleazy Eurodance mixed with innovative, indie perfection. The song even features a cheeky saxophone solo, so you know it’s good.

Accept Cut Copy’s invitation, and ‘Free Your Mind’ will be an acid trip of an album you’ll want to revisit time and again.

8/10

Live Review: Jagwar Ma @ Rescue Rooms [20/10/13]

Noel Gallagher, revered by hordes almost as a Godlike figure, recently described Jagwar Ma as the ‘future’. No pressure, chaps. Playing on Sunday night to a sold out Rescue Rooms, the Australian band had a heap of expectation to live up to. 

The trio – touring their debut album Howlin – open with the reverb-drenched, What Love. Frontman Gabriel Winterfield coos hypnotically throughout the repetitive, yet insanely catchy, track.

Come Save Me tells the familiar tale of an unrequited love, carried perfectly by a 60s pop backing track. Here, the multi-instrumentalist trio have a Beach Boys guise on – delivering sweet, sun-tinged harmonies.

Although attracting an eclectic audience with their genre-encompassing style, a baggy, Madchester vibe is prominent in most of the group’s work. The psychedelic The Throw could easily have featured on Screamadelica and latest single Man I Need transforms the venue into a scene from the legendary Haçienda– complete with its share of suspect haircuts.

Rarely interacting with the bustling audience, there is a nonchalant air about the band. This can be a peril, especially when prolonged jams at the tail end of certain tracks come across as distant and self-indulgent. However, when songs like Four hit their peak, the room explodes in a frenzy of fidgety synth. Punchy set-closer, That Loneliness, also typifies this – gloriously bursting into life at its climax and pushing the sound system’s bass remit to the limit.

Jagwar Ma certainly need a good polish at the edges, but Noel may just be onto something.


http://www.nottinghampost.com/Review-Jagwar-Ma-Rescue-Rooms/story-19965524-detail/story.html