Andy Wors
Highasakite š³š“ - āMotherā (Album)

Iām approaching the new Highasakite album somewhat nervously because my rule this year is to keep reviews really brief, yet āMotherā is such huge ambitious project Iām not entirely sure how I can give a balanced perspective in a few short paragraphs. I guess it barely matters, theyāre so big that my view is largely irrelevant.
Somewhat frighteningly this is their 5th album, having debuted in 2012 with āAll That Floats Will Rainā, most recently releasing āUranium Heartā (which I liked) in 2019, and now the latest is āMotherā. And without going into the history, theyāre now very much a duo, based around founding members Ingrid HĆ„vik and Trond Bersu.
To say that āMotherā is a weighty release is somewhat of an understatement, with synths turned up to 11, and always carried along by HĆ„vikās dark electro pop vocals and lyrics, which Iāll make no attempt to try and interpret, opening with the powerful and almost optimistic sounding āI Just Moved Hereā. Iām never a big fan of expletive laden lyrics but āAtomic Sparksā does hit home melodically and lyrically, helped by a line that could be considered in so many different ways: āDon't sabotage, don't get scared / This is a reconstruction / We're in helpless need of a new directionā.
āLove Him Anywayā and āSo Coldā are probably the most commercially appealing tracks, āUnder the Skyā and particularly āAutopsyā both leave me scratching my head slightly. But concluding track āCan I Come Homeā is pretty sensational, an epic, soulful and powerful song, ending with a gorgeous instrumental section which makes me want to listen to the whole album again, and maybe try and understand it a little more.
Because whilst it is a pretty spectacular release and Iām sure itāll be acclaimed by those who (unlike me) know what theyāre talking about, I canāt deny it leaves me cold in places. Maybe the blazing synths and industrial scale production overwhelm, maybe the sweary lyrics in a few tracks switch me off, maybe I preferred the more intimate version of the duo in āUranium Heartā. Maybe I just prefer guitars.
But the sheer scale of the album is impressive, and I probably need to just keep listening so that I can warm to it. I still like all the pre-album single releases after all and āCan I Come Homeā is a particular highlight. Their live shows this year will be phenomenal, itās a shame they donāt seem to be doing any outside of London.
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