Lauren Auder - the infinite spine

To co-opt a much-memed quote from one Mr Styles, the thing about Lauren Auder’s debut album is it really sounds like an album. Though there are a multitude of directions that the British-French artist takes ‘the infinite spine’ - from the claustrophobic grandeur of opener ‘33 & golden’ that harks to These New Puritans’ densest work, to the cathartic pop bombast of ‘city in a bottle’ to the pounding, WU LYF-esque exorcism of the Mura Masa-produced ‘the ripple’ - all feel cut from the same collection. There’s a sense of gravitas and weight both to Lauren’s vocal, the intensely personal subject matter regarding her life and transition, and the way it’s presented that acts as a unifier. “Hardly what they do to you / But how they make you feel like it’s deserved,” she sings painfully on highlight ‘730kingfisher’; ‘the infinite spine’ isn’t always an easy listen, but it’s a raw and beautiful one for it.