MJ Guider
's first two releases, the 2014 EP
Green Plastic
and 2016 full-length
Precious Systems
, were gorgeous fusions of ethereal dream pop and ambient techno that dipped into goth/post-punk-influenced waters. Her second album, 2020's
Sour Cherry Bell
, arrived after the New Orleans-based artist had toured with Baton Rouge sludge/doom metal group
Thou
and performed at the 2019 edition of the esteemed Dutch heavy music festival Roadburn. The album immediately takes on a darker tone than its predecessor, as
Melissa Guion
's weightless vocals float along with waves of shoegazey distortion on opener "Lowlight." "The Steelyard" appropriately features heavy, clanging drum machines resisting the gale-like force of echo-drenched guitars, sounding like a more industrialized version of prime
Seefeel
. The more sensuous, yearning "Cherry Bell Blacktop" is somewhere between early
Cocteau Twins
and
Insides
'
Euphoria
, while "Quiet Time" has a dubby bass line lurking beneath its crashing, goth club-ready beats and cyclical waves of haze-shrouded vocals. The piano-driven "Perfect Interference" seems placid enough until grinding noise throbs its way closer to the head of the mix. Penultimate track "Sourbell" is perhaps
Guion
's most powerful darkwave pop moment to date, as her lovelorn voice calls out from behind a veil of mist while upfront drum machines pound out an anxious heartbeat. Though
delves into gloomier, more despairing moods than
, it maintains a balance through radiant energy and never descends into overpowering hopelessness. ~ Paul Simpson