the voicemail is an essential piece imo. 'instead of another woman with no self-esteem.' it informs so much of her attitude. i was an early fan but lost track after go grey. this album is perfect and i can't wait to see her again. last time was probably 2007 at silent barn and it was mesmerizing. not tryin to see her with peaches tho.
― Yelploaf, Tuesday, 10 November 2015 02:35 (eight years ago) link
she is one of the best going round
― Hinklepicker, Tuesday, 10 November 2015 03:53 (eight years ago) link
"Window Shades" is terrific.
― art baengels (monotony), Tuesday, 10 November 2015 04:16 (eight years ago) link
I am really into this but the voicemail skit doesn't do anything for me
central to the whole album imo. it's not a voicemail either
― djp HOOS clouds (NickB), Tuesday, 10 November 2015 10:25 (eight years ago) link
I think it's more its place in the album - it would be a great opening or memorable closer - it slows the momentum down for me.
― boxedjoy, Tuesday, 10 November 2015 11:02 (eight years ago) link
it's intentionally disruptive i think
― gabba cadaver (NickB), Tuesday, 10 November 2015 11:56 (eight years ago) link
the first minute of "window shades" so beautiful the way it unfolds
― calstars, Wednesday, 30 December 2015 23:33 (eight years ago) link
I had somehow lost track of her after Go Grey. Just got Half Free and really like it, now I need to get GEM. I loved her more scabrous stuff, but I'm impressed with how she's managed to navigate accessibility and keep her discomforting edge.
― something totally new, it’s the AOR of the twenty first century (tipsy mothra), Thursday, 31 December 2015 02:59 (eight years ago) link
ok so i had no idea window shades heavily samples an old disco classic!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqprictNQW8
― art baengels (monotony), Monday, 15 February 2016 12:37 (eight years ago) link
"heavily samples" is an understatement
― calstars, Monday, 15 February 2016 14:34 (eight years ago) link
Half Free is incredible - parts of it a bit Prince - very lush and late night dance floor kind of vibe - has anyone heard the wee ep Free Advice Column ? - came out around same time I think - i think four other songs not on GF - any good etc???
― peanutbuttereverysingleday, Saturday, 9 April 2016 06:41 (eight years ago) link
Yeah, 28 Days from that EP is nice. Her voice has a '60s girl group timbre to it.
― calstars, Saturday, 9 April 2016 09:58 (eight years ago) link
she's always had that thing going on with her voice yea - i think she is pretty open about her love of ronnie spector/ girl groups from 60s etc ..i am just interested in whats going on with this ep - it came out round the same time as half free - is it just incoherent leftovers or something else again? maybe i will track it down online somewhere
― peanutbuttereverysingleday, Saturday, 9 April 2016 11:09 (eight years ago) link
both advance singles from the next record have been extremely strong, i'm excited
― imago, Thursday, 30 November 2017 13:05 (six years ago) link
Agree!
― calstars, Thursday, 30 November 2017 14:55 (six years ago) link
great stuff
― In a slipshod style (Ross), Friday, 1 December 2017 06:04 (six years ago) link
regulate vibes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9PLXHDEUFE
― kolakube (Ross), Sunday, 14 January 2018 19:42 (six years ago) link
Didn't like the new track so much, which goes to show how strong the first two were
― #TeamHailing (imago), Sunday, 14 January 2018 19:45 (six years ago) link
Haven’t heard the new one but “velvet” really fell in my assessment after several listens, not sure what happened. Just seemed kind of empty, couldn’t really suss what she was getting at?
― June Pointer’s Valentine’s Day Secret Admirer Note Author (calstars), Sunday, 14 January 2018 20:21 (six years ago) link
nah that one's gr8
this would seem to be her funk album
― #TeamHailing (imago), Sunday, 14 January 2018 20:25 (six years ago) link
Her voice really reminds me of stefani on mad as hell
― kolakube (Ross), Sunday, 14 January 2018 20:27 (six years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cFnewlPpzI
dopest
― kolakube (Ross), Saturday, 10 February 2018 05:01 (six years ago) link
that grew on me over its length. helps that i like finches and avians in general
it really is going to be her funk album - unless they've all been funky and i've not noticed until now
the guy in the video is her husband which is nice (apparently he's a musician of localised renown himself)
― imago, Saturday, 10 February 2018 12:11 (six years ago) link
like this album and this piece https://www.theringer.com/music/2018/2/12/17003518/u-s-girls-meg-remy-in-a-poem-unlimited-profile
― algorithm is a dancer (katherine), Tuesday, 13 February 2018 15:47 (six years ago) link
that's quite a title
― It's not delivery, it's Adorno! (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 13 February 2018 16:04 (six years ago) link
headline aside the album is great
― algorithm is a dancer (katherine), Tuesday, 13 February 2018 20:37 (six years ago) link
Looking forward to hearing this. She reminds me of Solex, especially on sororal feelings - never a bad thing
― kolakube (Ross), Tuesday, 13 February 2018 20:53 (six years ago) link
Maybe my favourite band going rn? idk anymore I love this music so much
― flamboyant goon tie included, Tuesday, 13 February 2018 23:56 (six years ago) link
new album's great
― kolakube (Ross), Wednesday, 14 February 2018 04:57 (six years ago) link
totally. as good a place to hop into the U.S. Girls thing as any other album, for sure.
― mr.raffles, Wednesday, 14 February 2018 05:38 (six years ago) link
Raffles and fgti otm
L-o-v-e-r is such a great bad romance track. Love the theme of vouching for your sensitivity in a cold relationship
― kolakube (Ross), Wednesday, 14 February 2018 15:40 (six years ago) link
gave this a first listen while coming in to work. This is good.
― silverfish, Friday, 16 February 2018 14:00 (six years ago) link
hooooly shit 'incidental boogie'!!!
― imago, Friday, 16 February 2018 19:14 (six years ago) link
Yeah this album is great
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Friday, 16 February 2018 20:29 (six years ago) link
on a par with Half Free but it's a good par
'poem' is another excellent non-single
― imago, Friday, 16 February 2018 22:03 (six years ago) link
Mad As Hell (aka MAH), Rosebud, Incidental Boogie are excellent. The other singles are pretty nifty too.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Friday, 16 February 2018 22:46 (six years ago) link
Mad As Hell is so great!
― in twelve parts (lamonti), Saturday, 17 February 2018 12:52 (six years ago) link
I'm loving the angry swirl of this record.
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 17 February 2018 13:12 (six years ago) link
hell yeh this rules
― nxd, Saturday, 17 February 2018 13:27 (six years ago) link
I love "Half Free"'s A-side more than any other record ever, prob
Not meant to detract from either artist in saying this, but I've always been annoyed that the sound-world that Solex proposed wasn't further explored by other artists subsequently, and to my ears US Girls are exploring and expanding that world
― flamboyant goon tie included, Saturday, 17 February 2018 15:36 (six years ago) link
Fgti, I mentioned solex earlier - great minds ;-)
She's hard to beat tho and underrated but US Girls are definitely carrying that torch
― kolakube (Ross), Saturday, 17 February 2018 15:42 (six years ago) link
Nothing here quite as incredible as Woman's Work but then I think that was my #1 in the 2015 traxpoll
― imago, Saturday, 17 February 2018 15:49 (six years ago) link
Incidental Boogie definitely from the same sound-world mind you
― imago, Saturday, 17 February 2018 15:50 (six years ago) link
M.A.H. is awesome. I like the whole record, need to listen more. I sort of miss her scabrous noise days, but it's also cool that she's done a whole range of things since then.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, 20 February 2018 03:28 (six years ago) link
Also 2nd/3rd the otms about Solex.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, 20 February 2018 03:29 (six years ago) link
Might have heard part of the last album but this is the first new thing i’ve bought in forever without really knowing what it would sound like. Seems great so far.
― geoffreyess, Tuesday, 20 February 2018 03:38 (six years ago) link
(Just realized I have used the word scabrous twice in this thread, which is probably overselling her scabrousness. But she was pretty murky, kind of industrial. I love the new stuff too.)
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, 20 February 2018 04:17 (six years ago) link
The timbre of her voice on this record in particular reminds me a lot of mid-90s Kylie.
― monotony, Tuesday, 20 February 2018 06:10 (six years ago) link
i've been thinking the exact same thing, Will!
― joshywinty (josh), Tuesday, 20 February 2018 06:13 (six years ago) link
Yeah, spot on. Put this on and after a few songs my girlfriend asked "uh...are you listening to a Kylie Minogue album?"
― triggercut, Tuesday, 20 February 2018 07:22 (six years ago) link
If the rest of this is as good as the first three songs then wow.
― Matt DC, Friday, 6 March 2020 08:57 (four years ago) link
tracks 4-5 are some embarrassing spoken word into the Be My Baby beat so I think you can retract that wow
― strangely hookworm but they manage ream shoegaze poetry (imago), Friday, 6 March 2020 10:13 (four years ago) link
i don't like the spoken word interludes (but i never do) but i do like the be my baby noise bit
― ufo, Friday, 6 March 2020 10:16 (four years ago) link
yep, bad album. sorry.
― strangely hookworm but they manage ream shoegaze poetry (imago), Friday, 6 March 2020 10:35 (four years ago) link
Incidental Boogie coming on the Spotify artist mix immediately after it ends, specifically to taunt me
― strangely hookworm but they manage ream shoegaze poetry (imago), Friday, 6 March 2020 10:36 (four years ago) link
"She used to be good! Woman's Work was your song of the year even!"
I don't know what she's become, but it's very on the nose, very irritating and not very good
― strangely hookworm but they manage ream shoegaze poetry (imago), Friday, 6 March 2020 10:38 (four years ago) link
IOU was alright I guess
― strangely hookworm but they manage ream shoegaze poetry (imago), Friday, 6 March 2020 10:42 (four years ago) link
Sir this is a sperm bank
― nashwan, Friday, 6 March 2020 11:35 (four years ago) link
Nah it's a pretty good album but the first three songs made me think we were in for a masterpiece but there's a drop off after that, even if I did enjoy her healthy disrespect for the Be My Baby beat.
Spoken word bits are dreadful, mind.
― Matt DC, Friday, 6 March 2020 14:01 (four years ago) link
It's good.
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 6 March 2020 14:12 (four years ago) link
I've been chanting the backing vocals in "Overtime" and "4 American Dollars" for the last week.
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 6 March 2020 14:13 (four years ago) link
If the 1st 3 songs are the best ones then there's no need for me to listen to the rest of this album
― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Friday, 6 March 2020 17:40 (four years ago) link
― Matt DC, Friday, March 6, 2020 7:01 AM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
could see this coming from a mile away after reading a profile on this record
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 6 March 2020 18:23 (four years ago) link
was this after one listen? two? just curious.
― alpine static, Saturday, 7 March 2020 16:49 (four years ago) link
lol this is NOT going to be another Titanic Rising
― strangely hookworm but they manage ream shoegaze poetry (imago), Saturday, 7 March 2020 17:11 (four years ago) link
I really like this. The interludes don't add anything to the album, but they're not as terrible as I was expecting. I did lower my expectations after reading the mixed reactions on here and on RYM, but I enjoyed it straight away. After a couple more listens it feels like a worthy follow-up to In A Poem Unlimited.
― kitchen person, Saturday, 7 March 2020 18:07 (four years ago) link
I really like the album too. I don't mind the spoken word bits, but the re-recordings of old songs feel kind of pointless. I'd rather hear more new songs on a album than something you'd hear in a live setting.
― braised cod, Saturday, 7 March 2020 22:01 (four years ago) link
I don't mind the spoken word bits either, and since I haven't heard anything pre-IAPU, all the tracks are new to me — so yep, good album, not sorry.
― ˈʌglɪɪst preɪ, Tuesday, 10 March 2020 21:44 (four years ago) link
lol I like this album a great deal, almost as much as the last one.
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 10 March 2020 21:47 (four years ago) link
I listened through a few times, I like it. So far it feels a notch below the last one, songwise. That one just had so many hooks, this one is a little more groove-driven. Which is fine. She's interesting. It's been fun to see her keep evolving.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 11 March 2020 04:02 (four years ago) link
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn)
Same here!
― kitchen person, Wednesday, 11 March 2020 04:10 (four years ago) link
I don't mind the faster, fuller "Red Ford Radio" on here, but I love the original of that song to pieces. It's more of a spooky dirge.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 11 March 2020 04:52 (four years ago) link
the spoken word bits are awful but this is why god invented the skip button and playlisting
I was dying for just one person on the fourth track to say "you suck and I hate you"
― bold caucasian eroticism (Simon H.), Wednesday, 11 March 2020 12:46 (four years ago) link
Y Se Mueve is groovy as hell. Saw them last month in NYC and that was a highlight. Super tight band w/ three backing vocalists.
― J. Sam, Wednesday, 11 March 2020 14:47 (four years ago) link
I have come in praise of the Alex Frankel remix of "Overtime", contributing to this lovely summer of disco
― unpaid intern at the darvo institute (Simon H.), Thursday, 27 August 2020 17:02 (three years ago) link
New album out today. Kind of seems like she's fallen off of everyone's radar? Apparently the first single from this album came out back in July and I had no idea.
― Vaguely Threatening CAPTCHAs, Friday, 24 February 2023 15:38 (one year ago) link
The opener sounds like....Toto.
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 24 February 2023 15:43 (one year ago) link
She had definitely fallen off my radar; this is the first I had heard of the new album.
I saw her live in NYC in February 2020, the last show I saw pre-quarantine. So now I unfortunately associate her (and Heavy Light in particular) with that early-COVID sense of pre-apocalyptic anxiety. I thought the critical backlash to that album was pretty harsh, so I've got high hopes for this one. Only two tracks in right now--Toto OTM re: opener.
― J. Sam, Friday, 24 February 2023 16:45 (one year ago) link
Also re: opener, from this track-by-track interview https://www.stereogum.com/2214480/us-girls-bless-this-mess-track-by-track/interviews/footnotes-interview/:
You said that this song is about the act of creation? Tell me why this one kicks off the album.MEG REMY: Because of how it sounds, how it starts. It hits. As they say, “It slaps.” An instant “Oh, shit.” Thematically, the song’s really all over the place. I was initially writing it in my mind as a duet. I really wanted to do a duet with Julian Casablancas, which obviously didn’t happen. Then there was a brief moment where it was going to maybe be a duet with Donald Fagen. That didn’t happen either — someone got my hopes very up.
MEG REMY: Because of how it sounds, how it starts. It hits. As they say, “It slaps.” An instant “Oh, shit.” Thematically, the song’s really all over the place. I was initially writing it in my mind as a duet. I really wanted to do a duet with Julian Casablancas, which obviously didn’t happen. Then there was a brief moment where it was going to maybe be a duet with Donald Fagen. That didn’t happen either — someone got my hopes very up.
Get Don for the remix!!
― J. Sam, Friday, 24 February 2023 16:49 (one year ago) link
If Holy Ghost and Thundercat can get Michael Mcdonald surely so can she
― nashwan, Friday, 24 February 2023 17:05 (one year ago) link
Feel like Heavy Light showcased most of their worst impulses (or at least the things I enjoyed least about their previous work)... to the extent that it made me question my love for Half Free and In a Poem (which already had some ill-advised clunkers to go with the VERY high highs).
Should I listen to this?
― mr.raffles, Friday, 24 February 2023 18:35 (one year ago) link
early indications appear to be that this has a couple of bangers and a bunch more half-baked stuff, will listen (no matter how cringe she gets, Half Free will always be a masterpiece)
― imago, Friday, 24 February 2023 18:39 (one year ago) link
I liked “Pump” the best on first listen.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Friday, 24 February 2023 18:40 (one year ago) link
listening now. at least so far i can say it has a better track than anything on heavy light (the second). however it also has a worse track than anything on it (the third). nice to give yourself an out by calling it a mess in the title lol
― imago, Monday, 27 February 2023 12:33 (one year ago) link
yeah this isn't very good
― imago, Monday, 27 February 2023 12:48 (one year ago) link
It's about as uneven as Heavy Light was for me. The playlist I just made with the best tracks from both is a pretty decent album though!
― Vaguely Threatening CAPTCHAs, Monday, 27 February 2023 15:09 (one year ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/jAAMOW3.jpg
― calstars, Saturday, 18 March 2023 18:48 (one year ago) link