Fabels

One of the reasons we are fascinated by groundbreaking artists is that they seem to exist beyond the time constraints of daily life. The most obvious example is the frenzied juggernaut. Those manic dynamos that hit the stage like a missile, bounding around at break-neck speed whipping the crowd into a slew of chaos. Iggy Pop immediately comes to mind. Then there are those artists who play with time in the other direction. Their virtue is patience. The ability to delay gratification and keep you spellbound in a beautiful state of uncertainty.

Aussie dream-pop outfit Fabels have mastered the latter. On their latest record Minds, the duo of Hiske Weijers and Ben Aylward use their temporal discipline to great effect by creating hypnotic grooves and sitting in them like a meditation. In addition to creating the darkly enchanting soundscapes, the pair also trade off vocal duties with Weijers paegan Earth Mother incantations trading off with Aylward's icy cool trip-hop refrains. The concoction makes for an art piece that massages the brain while tapping into deeply primal sensations. Countless groups attempt to make dark music, often reiterating the same basic ideas that Black Sabbath trotted out in 1969. Minds cracks open a portal to new musical ideas that quake with the intrigue of the unknown.

The journey begins with the warm, shiny tones of a children's song. On 'Open', Weijers enters with softly sung words, eventually rising to the self-assured timbre of Jehnny Beth in her solo work. The guitar pushes slowly into overdrive then crashes back into calming drones as Weijers and Ayland trade off bedtime whispers. The track acts as an intro to 'ShereKhan', the record's most stunning sonic achievement. Painted on a canvas of backwards instrumentation, Fabels build a masterpiece brick by brick. Persistent guitar chords are sensually danced around by a bass line that floats down from the clouds in steady descending tones. Aylward takes the first lines as the tenor version of Brendan Perry to Weijers' exotic Lisa Gerrard. The first of many favourable comparisons to Australian compatriots Dead Can Dance. As Weijers' mythical musings build, waves of distortion overwhelm the sound field and roll back. This is most definitely an album that dazzles on headphones. Not since Massive Attack has a band been able to so effectively hold your spirit in a trance in this way.

As the album progresses pockets of light and dark pop in and out of existence. 'Waiting' glides like an oar-driven ship heading into battle under cover of darkness. The dulled yet present drums punch through Aylward's nocturnal aura guitars. Weijers ominously whispers into the ether. Sonorous layers of otherworldly reverb are piled on in shoegaze fashion. The duo creates a scream in hushed tones.

The album's 10-minute opus 'Hinsaw' showcases the group at their most eccentric. Vocals previously restrained are now turning to theatrical spoken dramatizations and wild sounds. With the ethos of a Robert Eggers film score, Fabels fully embody the supernatural horror soundtrack aesthetic. Weijers becomes untethered illustrating a manic dichotomy between child's voice and witch's spell. The synths are deeply unsettling yet distant, like the ever-present threat out in the deep, dark forest. Bone-chilling and gorgeously cinematic.

The title track takes the penultimate spot providing the album's lasting final statement. Over a ceremonial hand drum Weijers' offers up staccato vocalizations much like Carina Round from Puscifer's idiosyncratic punctuations to Maynard James Keenan's crooning vocals. Breathy coos are matched by synth pan-flute as Aylward guides the track into the horizon with a Floyd-like existential conclusory proclamation.

Minds is wildly creative, intensely beautiful, brilliantly crafted, and deeply alluring. Fabels inhabit a sorceress's spirit, conjuring images and emotions from deep within and splaying them across the canvas of a record. A mystical listen that will leave you astonished.