Methyl Ethel - Triage

Methyl Ethel’s third album is choc-a-bloc with hooks and head-nodding electro-pop goodness from the get go. The record was recorded entirely by Jake Webb at his home in Perth - but you’d be easily fooled into believing it was the work of a much greater studio set-up, such is the variety and vibrancy of sounds present in each song.

‘Ruiner’ gallops about a swaggering chorus as Jake’s androgynous vocal repeats “that’s not good enough”, before a Tame Impala-style bass line lays down a solid groove in ‘Scream Whole’. The epic synth stabs on ‘Trip The Mains’ seem to bounce right out of the speakers as the glitter-pop stomper subtly ascends towards its climax. ‘Post-Blue’, meanwhile, is a dusky, arpeggiated synth bass number that bares similarities with Digital Versicolor’s ‘Glass Candy’.

By the time ‘Triage’ draws to an end it feels like a great journey has been accomplished, partly thanks to expert sequencing that switches between a variety of moods and atmospheres. ‘No Fighting’, ultimately, is a fitting finale - with some of the album’s catchiest vocals declaring “I don’t even want to fight” as pianos and swirling synths conjure up a wicked spell. Methyl Ethel have reached great new heights with this stellar effort.