Posted on: June 25, 2011 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

I must admit, I was not too terribly familiar with New Zealand recording artist Annabel Alpers before receiving eir Bachelorette disc a few weeks back. From the disc’s opening salvo “Grow Old With Me”, Alpers makes me want to search out the rest of eir music. There just seems to be an unique flair to this disc that distinguishes it from other similar sorts of releases. The tracks themselves have a flair for defying convention, moving effortlessly between psychedelia, eighties New Romantic, and pop.

However, these hints just float at the top of the track – what results in efforts like “Blanket” and “The Last Boat’s Leaving” is something that is much more varied and nuanced than these genre tags would allow. Alpers allows each track on this self-titled effort to thrive in an organic way. Where the penultimate track “Generous Spectre” fades out before the ninety second mark, “Blanket” roots around and explores Alpers through the course of four and a quarter minutes. This disc is a heady one, with the interaction between the disc’s tracks providing as much information and context as the tracks do themselves.

Alpers’ haunting compositions are something that are changing; rather than crafting music that may be outwardly catchy and ultimately forgettable a few minutes later, Bacherlorette will have listeners thinking about them for weeks or months after they have put down the CD. Repeat listens are a buyer’s best friend, as there are still bits and pieces to tracks like “Tui Tui” that are revealing themselves to me with each subsequent listen. I would whole-heartedly suggest purchasing a copy of Bachelorette’s new album and seeing them live at one’s first opportunity.

Top Tracks: Grow Old With Me, Polarity Party

Rating: 7.4/10

Bachelorette – Bachelorette (CD) / 2011 Drag City / 11 Tracks / http://www.dragcity.com / http://www.myspace.com/bachelorettepop

Leave a Comment