Confronting sadness and accepting the inevitable reality that life is not what we dream of and not what we want. That is Stung!
Stung! It is the tenth album of Pondwhich will be released through the record label Spinning Top Records. It is an LP that ventures into catchy melodies, sometimes cheerful, but with dark lyrics and dissonant moments and dreamlike effects. This is the first long album by the Perth band, since usually their albums are around 40 minutes or so, but this composition has been a watershed in the modality of its design and structure.
To introduce the LP the first thing we hear is “Constant Picnic”a song that has a repetitive melody and a slow tempo that creates a religious atmosphere that ends up enveloping our ears until reaching the end and, thus, merging with the beginning of “(I'm) Stung”This single is simply sensational, its structure is catchy, fast and it throws us raw lyrics about false love and non-requital love.
In the third topic we have “Neon River”with a ballad format at the beginning, until giving way to an abrupt cut with electrifying guitars. This resource is maintained, but it works because of its dynamism. With “Only” it shows us Pond a funk side, a successful cut, although a little outside of what had been heard until this point and with vivid lyrics with realistic passages about not keeping our expectations so high and how the future evaporates. However, the thread is picked up a little with “Black Lung”as the importance of psychedelic rock rises with riffs energetic and reverberant sounds.
The next song is “Sunrise for the Lonely”a track emotional and melancholic that plays with ambient specters and percussion boxes. In the case of “Elf Bar Blues” The recorded percussions are followed, the music is wrapped with a chord progression that oscillates over and over in our head to give way to the work “Edge of the World Pt. 3”. This one takes us back, without a doubt, to the great long-playing pieces of the Australian band, as it contains abrupt conversions and has no fixed structure. The interesting thing about this track It is precisely that, the constant variation of sounds that go from the glam to the psychedelic and immersive.
However, “Stars in a Silken Sheets” It is a kind of short bridge that connects with the force of “Boy's Don't Crash”one of the most outstanding tracks on the entire album. For its part, “O, UV Ray” It is a showcase within this LP, the magic with wind instruments, metallic tinkling and an acoustic guitar reach a point that makes its sound unreal compared to the rest of tracks.
In “Last Elvis” we hear a fun, cheerful song with a solid rhythm that makes the percussion shine. In turn, the penultimate cut of Stung!which bears the title of “Elephant Gun” breaks with the previous sound, as we pour into a melancholic sound recital led by the voice of Nicholas Allbrook.
We reached the end with “Fell From Grace With the Sea”a closing with a great fusion of emotions that reach catharsis through piano chords, synthesizers with ethereal sounds and intermittent heartbreaking guitars.
The walk through the entirety of Stung! It makes it clear that the group was able to polish each song one by one, despite having had a long creative process due to difficulties or personal occupations, the result is almost perfect. Although it is a cathartic album, there are weak moments that do not quite gel aurally, however the second half is an oasis that remains and that is worth appreciating.
The truth is that Pond He doesn't make music to be trendy and the way he delves into everyday topics and indigestible sounds is the hallmark of his songwriting, which consequently is a successful way to channel his creativity and consolidate his tenth studio album.
