[Reviews] Dot Allison - We Are Science
Rolling Stones: **
AMG: ****1/2
THE ROLLING STONE REVIEW
The Eighties revival ends here. Scot chanteuse Dot Allison
has a detached, airy voice that, when paired with heavy
synths, is presumably meant to winkingly evoke the
tense-lipped, mechanical irony of two decades ago. But
droll she ain't: When these songs keep the pretense to a
minimum, as on the folksy "Wishing Stone" or the shimmering
"Strung Out," her melancholy mood can be affecting. But
much of the rest is dreadfully muddy, lacking in both
substance and texture. Even "I Think I Love You," a Keith
Tenniswood production throbbing with possibility, is
reduced to guileless synth pop by Allison's chalky vocals.
On "Substance," she dryly intones the mantra "In need of
some substance" over and over again. If only she didn't mean it.
AMG
Feeling that she had perfected dreamy swirling pop
with Afterglow, Dot Allison edges toward electro dance
territory and beyond on her sophomore album, We Are
Science, and the results are nothing short of
brilliant. Working the production boards herself, with
some help from Two Lone Swordsmen's Keith Tenniswood
and contributors Mercury Rev and Death in Vegas,
Allison looks back to Factory Records, Kraftwerk, and
house music for inspiration. Alternately lush and
lo-fi, the album seeks the trance-y dirges of
Afterglow, but adds huge pockets of exhilarating
grooves, weird throbbing beats, analog synthesizers,
sweeping strings, and echoing, twinkling pianos.
What's truly remarkable is that Allison is able to
touch upon so many influences and skirt so many
genres, but there's not an element that feels out of
place. It's not just expert sequencing that holds the
album together. It's Allison's fearless
experimentation, genius sense of melody, urgent
lyrics, and commanding vocals that make for such a
winning opus. The retro touches of "Make It Happen,"
"Strung Out," and "I Think I Love You" honor
influences from Wire to New Order to the Human League
to Depeche Mode, but Allison makes the sound her own
again and again. "Strung Out" sounds like Curve
produced by Martin Hannett. When things turn cinematic
on "Performance" and "Wishing Stone," Allison proves
herself a master of atmosphere. Poetic, melodic, and
pulsing with enormous amounts of energy, the album
sees Allison virtually creating new genres in the
process of exploring her own musical heroes. We Are
Science sees Dot Allison going beyond even the highs
of One Dove and crafting an accessible, evocative
masterpiece that consistently surprises and thrills.
--
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