English singer, songwriter, and cosmic voyager
Jane Weaver
continues her journey outward on
Love in Constant Spectacle
, her tenth solo record and her most emotionally based set of songs to date.
Weaver
's discography is full of direct hits, with some of her most remarkable material drawing from Krautrock-styled repetition,
Stereolab
's blithe pop,
Broadcast
's eerily captivating melodic flare, and
Goldfrapp
-esque synth grooves. These touchstones are still present throughout
, but
pushes them further musically and thematically. The space-aged funk approach of her 2021 album
Flock
shows up in a slightly more reserved form on album opener "Perfect Storm," which is more a nod to
Bowie
's Berlin days cavorting with
Brian Eno
than like the
Prince
-influenced moments on
. Slippery syncopated synths lock in with loose, happy-go-lucky basslines as
's austere voice glides in and out of dubby swells of tape echo. While wavy synth lines and warped surf guitars decorate "Romantic Worlds," the drums and vocals are very much earthbound, with dry, loud production pushing them to the center of the mix. This synthesis of sounds both far-flung and straightforward works well throughout the album and might be the result of these songs being
's first collaboration with
John Parish
, a producer best known for his work with
PJ Harvey
,
Sparklehorse
Aldous Harding
, and others. Where
's earlier albums were more about the mystique created by her alien sound world,
feels a little more human. The lazy soft rock instrumentation and upfront vocals of "Emotional Components" and the wounded undertones that peek out from beneath a
Silver Apples
-y drum pattern on "Happiness in Proximity" give these songs a reflective, sometimes aching tone.
's songs still sound beamed in from distant galaxies, but here she seems to be coming to grips with the feeling that love and loss are more universal than she thought, even when happening on planets far from Earth. ~ Fred Thomas