Nearly everyone, musicians included, longed for connection in 2020, but not many incorporated it into their work as purposefully as
Xiu Xiu
's
Jamie Stewart
and
Angela Seo
. Following 2019's
Girl with a Basket of Fruit
, several of
Stewart
's personal and professional relationships ended suddenly, spurring him to reach out to some of his nearest and dearest friends, many of whom join him and
Seo
on
Oh No
's duets. While some of
's finest songs have featured other vocalists alongside
, more often they've excelled at music that embodies alienation and isolation in ways that make their fans feel less alone in their own lives. On
,
put a little bit of hope in companionship and humanity, and the results are more than merely therapeutic. These collaborations present a calmer, more introspective incarnation of
than the one that appeared on
, but the band never sound complacent. Frequently,
, and their guests play with the different ways two voices can complement each other within a song. On "Sad Mezcalita,"
Sharon Van Etten
's exchanges resemble a conversation, even as the song's choruses reach for the heavens; on "I Cannot Resist,"
's shaky but resilient calls are met by responses from a majestic choir of voices including
Drab Majesty
Deb Demure
; and on "Saint Dymphna," the intertwining of
's voice with
Twin Shadow
George Lewis, Jr.
makes for one of the album's loveliest moments. Of course, it wouldn't be a
album without some boundary pushing. With
Fabrizio Modonese Palumbo
, the band focus on the most experimental aspects of their music on "A Classic Screw," and the riot of noise that tears through the album's title track (a collaboration with actor/director
Susanne Sachsse
) becomes liberating. The heartache from the separations that sparked the album reverberates throughout all of
, but reaches a peak on the caustic version of
the Cure
's "One Hundred Years," which finds
Chelsea Wolfe
magnifying the anguish of the original. Several other pairings are nearly as inspired:
Angus Andrew
brings some of
Liars
' knotty percussion and angular outbursts to "Rumpus Room," while the
Owen Pallett
duet "I Dream of Someone Else Entirely" is one of the more graceful songs here. All of
's collaborators honor the bravery and vulnerability of their music, and as
comes to a close, its feeling of hopefulness grows with "A Bottle of Rum," a radiant duet with
Grouper
Liz Harris
. Embodying hard times as well as the way friends lift each other out of them,
also exemplifies the drama, mystery, and deeply felt emotions that have made
a vital musical force for decades. ~ Heather Phares