by Brett Williams (@brettlesboy)
It’s always been common knowledge that limitations (material, financial, personal) breed creativity, and there’s no shortage of artists whose crowning achievements are their early work - the records they made with almost no resources and no personnel. Artist’s status can wane as they add musicians, production value, and bells and whistles to their music. LA-via-Gainesville-via-Paris synth-pop duo Pearl & The Oysters have been an exception to this rule for nearly a decade now, like a poster child for manageable growth in musical terms. Monkey Mind, their first album truly recorded with a full band, continues the trend.
Up to this point in time, Pearl & the Oysters albums have mostly been self-produced, albeit well produced. Consequently, their music has always had a synthy, arcade game bedroom pop feel. But the array of LA session musicians enlisted to play on Monkey Mind allows the duo to expand into jammier, more dynamic territory than they ever have. Producer Jonathan Rado, champion of 70s singer-songwriters and staple producer of the modern west coast indie rock ecosystem, (Foxygen, Tim Heidecker, Weyes Blood, Father John Misty, etc) helps them take their sound in an earthier direction, without abandoning any of their characteristic whimsy.
The album’s first song “Wide Awake,” which initiated the writing process for the album, also serves as the record’s emotional core. Written by Joachim Polack one night in January of last year while Juliette Pearl Davis was up all night crying as wildfires burned down the southern California coast, the song is a simple, effective message of shared sorrow. With lyrics like “when your heart is achy, so am I; that’s why tears echo in my eye,” the song’s sweetness is palpable, almost to the point of hokiness - but the hokiness is served by Davis’ beautifully simple and expressive delivery as she moves from one note to the next, enunciating each syllable with an almost mechanical precision. She doesn’t convey emotion through trills, vibrato or flourishes; she just sings the words and the emotion is there.
Slow, soft tunes like “Solar Return” and “A Pocket Symphony” emit a similar energy, both musically and lyrically. Those schmaltzy, charming ballads are interspersed in a sea of spacey Brazilian funk, futuristic samba and propulsive City Pop-inspired jams like “Lights Out” that demonstrate the duo’s limitless capacity for hooks, melody, and rhythm. The playing by their all-star assembly of instrumentalists showcases their potential as a band. Pearl & The Oysters have always been able to do more with less. On Monkey Mind they prove they can do more with more.