With ‘Althaea’, Trailer Trash Tracys follow-up to 2012’s critically acclaimed debut album ‘Ester’, the band continue their investigations into the farther flung reaches of pop music, with stunning results.
Spanning 10 deeply esoteric tracks, ‘Althaea’ sees the band drift further afield from traditional song structures to create a new aural lexicon of their own, one as influenced by Filipino carnival music and Latin rhythms as it was by Japanese tropical music from the 80s. Even at their most outwardly pop - the pristine ‘Eden Machine’, for instance, or the swooning ‘Kalesa’ - there is a baroque splendour and heightened sensuality. The interplay of light and dark - the foreign and the familiar - brings forth an album with manifold pleasures, one which rewards repeated listening and further exploration.
The album is also a soundtrack to Filipino filmmakers Raya Martin and Charles Salazar’s forthcoming film with the same name. On their collaboration Raya says, “‘Althaea’ is a narrative about being stuck in a strange mystical island. It’s a landscape that’s at once familiar, aggressive, drifting, odd and unexpected. The music by Trailer Trash Tracys perfectly transports us to this place hidden in all of us.”
Spanning 10 deeply esoteric tracks, ‘Althaea’ sees the band drift further afield from traditional song structures to create a new aural lexicon of their own, one as influenced by Filipino carnival music and Latin rhythms as it was by Japanese tropical music from the 80s. Even at their most outwardly pop - the pristine ‘Eden Machine’, for instance, or the swooning ‘Kalesa’ - there is a baroque splendour and heightened sensuality. The interplay of light and dark - the foreign and the familiar - brings forth an album with manifold pleasures, one which rewards repeated listening and further exploration.
The album is also a soundtrack to Filipino filmmakers Raya Martin and Charles Salazar’s forthcoming film with the same name. On their collaboration Raya says, “‘Althaea’ is a narrative about being stuck in a strange mystical island. It’s a landscape that’s at once familiar, aggressive, drifting, odd and unexpected. The music by Trailer Trash Tracys perfectly transports us to this place hidden in all of us.”
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: From tropical rhythms and silken marimba hits, through to grooving summery numbers, and more full-force rhythmic rock 'Althaea' is packed with moments of pure perfection. A brilliant outing, and just a hint of what's to come.TRACK LISTING
Smoked River
Eden Machine
Going Gardens
Siebenkas
Money For Moondogs
Betty’s Cavatina
Casadora
Singdrome
Kalesa
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