Nothing Under Four Stars: Open our ears to some sweet harmonies

Daisy the Great

Daisy the Great, 2022

One of the better finds of the latter months of last year is this wee gem by Brooklyn indie-pop duo Daisy the Great. Acting-school friends Kelly Nicole Dugan and Mina Walker have been crafting quietly tasteful indie-folk tunes for over six years, but the addition of a full band and a shift to a deeper pop sensibility brings them racing into mainstream contention. If, of course, they want that. With almost ashamedly inward-looking lyrics and quirky imagery, they certainly fit the new mould inhabited by up-and-coming artists such as Dora Jar and Christian Lee Hutson – beloved by fellow artists before the wider public knows they exist. And in a weary world which amplifies the ugly and is yet to shake off its pandemic distress, some dream-like imagery and heavenly harmonies might be just the ticket.

Establishing their position strongly with “Time Machine”, they only power up with the really sublime harmonising of “Glitter”. To also introduce the “freakfolk” inflected and slightly-outside-of-key vocal flourishes is also a winning move. And helpfully, if you aren’t sold on the formula at this point you can quietly walk away. “Aluminum” is a very strong track, standing up well in both the album proper and as an acoustic bonus track on the deluxe edition. The middle sags a little (as many albums will) but the twin peaks of “Liar” and “I Don’t Wanna Fall” bring back the precision to match the sweetness of the vocal.

GET THIS: A sunnier end to 2022 than perhaps it deserved

Weyes Blood

Sub Pop, 2022

The hugely anticipated arrival of Natalie Mering’s fifth studio album as Weyes Blood was a late 2022 highlight. Where 2019’s excellent Titanic Rising was the oracle predicting the looming climate catastrophe (albeit in orchestral grandeur and with luminous vocals), the latest album is the poetry of the embedded war correspondent in the thick of the firefight. But it is nature (and humanity itself) at war with humanity through weather, contagion and depersonalising politics that make the narratives here flow. Also a sprinkling of human relationship dynamics underneath the existential dread. And, as is her way, the sound of nature destroying us is compellingly beautiful again. The single nagging criticism is that the insistence on painting with warm colours makes it a little harder to be impacted as fully by the narrative gloom. Titanic Rising had that power to lift and to drop, and to convey the depth of dread Mering intended us to feel. Her vocal style distracts substantially from the attendant pain and wounding she presents, but does make the album musically very easy to absorb on repeated listens. Of the tracks presented, none are weak. All sound expensively produced, although I think this is more a testament to her arranging and production craft. “God Turn Me Into a Flower” is subdued and appropriately hymnal, her experience of religion in childhood coming to the fore. “The Worst is Done” is the best and most frightening track. A swinging pop lilt, inviting humanity back outside to play. Then telling us what we know is true “but I think the worst has yet to come now”.

GET THIS: Politely rendered dissection of humanity’s war on itself

David Doig is a Havelock North GP. His email is nzdocmusic@hotmail.com