The music of London four-piece Landshapes isn't easy to categorize. There are numbers here which are mainly percussive, and others that are anchored by the clear vocals of leader Jemma Freeman. But taken in total, the entire new album, Contact, out now via Bella Union, is an engaging record, especially on a song-by-song basis.
"Drama" hops and skips over a rhythmic undertow that seems to be swaying underneath Freeman's singing, while "Siberia" is both buoyed up by jazzy drumming from Dan Blackett and punctuated by the hits on the skins. Jemma Freeman's vocals here faintly recall those of Shirley Manson or Alison Goldfrapp, but the delivery feels more improvisational instead, giving this a feeling that's oddly like stuff you might have heard from the British art rock boom of decades ago. The playing is impressive all throughout this album, but the individual selections owe their success to Freeman's performance on each.
Contact works best in bites, because these small bursts of creativity make a listener feel like you're hearing something truly revolutionary. In total, that's harder to discern, though the roiling and euphoric "Let Me Be" certainly charms with some unearthly power. So much of the success of this band is down to Jemma Freeman, and it's her clear voice that pierces through these tunes, from the ones that pop and snap, and to the ones which build up into formidable post-punk excursions.
Contact is out now via Bella Union.
[Photo: Bella Union]