by Kris Handel (@khandel84)
Over the course of five albums (and one ambient album under her own name, Lillie West) Lala Lala have tread a path from a DIY punk aesthetic to stirring and evocative glitch pop. On their new release Heaven 2, Lillie West maintains her powerful songwriting that will cut your heart out at the drop of the hat with soaring keyboards and skittering programming. West’s ability to reach into her inner world with pure abandon is now matched with soundscapes that seamlessly blend her emotional folk stylings with Boards of Canada at their most sweepingly beautiful. West is accompanied by Melina Duterte on various instruments and beats, with some striking backing vocals provided by guests like Macie Stewart (Finom) and sax from Sen Morimoto, providing new textures to break the swirling synths.
“Car Anymore” kicks off the record with jumpy keyboard as West drowsily intones “Get me out of America/Something in the water makes me sick…” before a glitchy wave envelops everything. Here, West tackles life head on and the track does a good job of embodying the messy noise and distortion of everyday life in modern times. As the track develops, the pounding drums shine a spotlight on disorienting anxiety.
“Anywave” would fit nicely as a late night club stomper as waves flicker and a bubbling New Order gaze penetrates the environs. Here, a relationship gets dissected from multiple angles as West struggles with coming to grips with how to rebuild through the dissolution of comfort of the familiar and stagnant.
“Even Mountains Move” is West at her best, as the incisive track details moving beyond a situation and the alienation that can come from taking control. Macie Stewart’s vocals coo during the aching chorus as Duterte and West’s synths almost chorally wobble around interjecting violin. All of this has an aching beauty that eerily haunts everything around it. “Tricks” is one of the starker tracks on the album as West’s deep vocals bellow what gives off the impression of a fairly harrowing internal dialogue. The intensity heightens towards the end as Stewart’s strings swell and pulse, keyboards wobble, and West’s shifting vocal tones and moods cascade throughout.
Nowadays, West’s music is much more open and flowing. The expanding scope of Lala Lala’s arrangements are an intriguing wrinkle in this ever-moving and changing aural document. West’s vocals have continued to find new ways of expression through quiet ruminations and hearty, deeply intense exhortations. The variance provides quite an enchanting jolt on all of these tracks.
Heaven 2 carries a chaotic beauty that fully acknowledges the frailties of human nature while managing to reconcile complex emotions and impressions. Lala Lala are daringly unafraid to tackle the dangers of the modern world by working through questions that arise through the intense intimacy of their music.