jennvixmusic.bandcamp.com (label)
23 October 2017 (released)
23 October 2017
Genre-bending auteur Jenn Vix covers a lot of ground on five-track E.P. ‘Unlocked’; serving up a brimming bowl of postmodern broth for your delectation. From gothic undertones to glam exhibitionism, new waving to electro-industry, this bunch of fives packs a powerful punch.
Vix has previously collaborated with ex-Tin Machine man (and current Cure member) Reeves Gabrels, Marco ‘Ant’ Pirroni (on a Shirley Collins tribute album) and (former Steve Hillage/Nik Turner) drummer Andy Anderson; disparate influences feeding in and bleeding through these vignettes of liberation and salvation.
Angular post-punk chops are resurrected on ‘Alive again’ with Vix admitting ‘something good has taken me over’ as she ‘feels the power surging through me’. The past cast aside, the present bringing a new tide, that particular ending (in)advertently creating a new beginning.
A brush with mortality inspired ‘Complicated Man’, suppressed memories and repressed emotions coming to the fore, breaking through to the other side resulting in beneficial decision-making namely the complication being excised. Hit the road, sad sack. ‘Nerve’ has Vix channelling Annie Lennox at her most (Eu)rhythmically, an electro-pulsating number that incorporates the stentorian glambience of the Sisters of Mercy.
‘Unlocked’ features original Psychedelic Furs guitarist John Ashton, his distinctive chime-clang-drone culminating in a piercing crash-endo. Cinematic and enigmatic, Nadine Shah’s been note-taking.
The release is augmented by a remix of ‘Complicated man’ by Danny Chavis (The Veldt)
This ‘revengeful’ quartet’s central message is ‘she who laughs last laughs loudest and proudest. If you too have maladious affairs of the heart, Jenn’ll Vix it for you.
