Warpaint – Warpaint (Review)

WARPAINT 600

Four childhood friends from L.A. comprise the indie rock band Warpaint, a group of women who are known for their light, sun kissed tone and mesmerizing harmonies. With their new self-titled record, however, they begin to dampen their previously easy-going attitude and explore at a depth previously uncharted for Warpaint.

“Intro” sets the album up like a live show, where strings are warmed up and a solemn pace is established. It creates the trance you typically find during a transition in a set, and rightly balances the audience on their toes as they anticipate the next song. The tone of the album is focusing, bordering a fragility which never actually falls weak and maintains an animated tempo.

The vocals glide about eerily in tracks like “Love is to Die” and “Tesse,” but are certain enough to never stretch a note farther than the melody should allow. Warpaint conceives their own fashion as what feels like an icy lullaby, aimlessly drifting yet formidable when it comes to achieving a feeling of wholesome comfort. The album tugs at what feels like realized flaws and the coping that follows. “Son” wraps the album with the same daunting echoes which are strewn throughout the record, making it an endearing piece.

Warpaint’s self-titled album is clearly a mark of experienced songwriting and harmony, but at times it lacks a much needed climax in chorus. The vocals seem to have faded significantly since their 2010 release The Fool, and are far less pronounced. They are fitting for the ebb Warpaint clearly follows, but never entirely deliver with the instrumental build that carries the song through.

The album as a whole is entrancing, but mostly suitable for daydreaming and mindless tasks, effectively creating a background ‘soundtrack’ effect for a day indoors.

Rating: W-P

Key Tracks: “Love is to Die,” “Son”

RIYL: Wild Beasts, Gayngs, Beach House

Leave a Reply