There’s something irresistible about music that feels like it’s falling apart at the seams. Black outfits are masters of barely controlled chaos. It feels like all of their records are in danger of collapsing into pure noise at any moment. But they’ve never ever woven the various threads of their sound so expertly – jumbled percussion, thumping guitars, irresistible pop hooks – as they do. forever in your heart,
Canadian duo Ada Rook and Devi McCallion have crafted some undeniably catchy electronics from abrasive electronics, metallic percussion, death-metal screams and off-key warbling. The opening track, “Peacesign!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Jumps out of the speakers with such viciousness that the riff basically travels on itself before settling into a groovy shoegaze verse. When the riff comes back, Devi screams, “Can we create something beautiful without any hope?”
Both Rook and Devi’s screams are explosive, but nowhere is this more true than on “Silver Bells”. Halfway through the song, after a particularly melodic passage backed by Pretty Hate Machine-esque synths, Rook broke his vocal cords, uttering the lines:
i am tired
I’m out of breath
I’m afraid of what’s left
i just want some humility
but stress and disappointment
Is that all we ever get?
The performance is so intense that Devi actually screams to make sure her friend is okay. It’s a moment of levity in an album that can often feel bleak. But it probably also arose from genuine concern for Ada’s larynx.
“Silver Bells” gives way to the glitchy mid-tempo “Requieted” and the lo-fi indie-rock tinged “Waiting42morrow”, which provide a respite before the slower build of “Gone in an Instant”, which climaxes with more vocal acting from Rook.
Lyrically, the album is filled with feelings of isolation and self-loathing. People who “don’t remember she was even in their lives” and Rook declares that “I wish I was a fake, people would hate the fake me.” Heavy subjects may seem disorganized in less skilled hands. But the songs exploring the pressures they face as trans women are balanced by moments of hope. At the end of “Paradise” Rook finds beauty and accepts that there is a way out of the darkness.
And all are broken creatures
perfect just the way they are
but it’s easy to get disillusioned
When you don’t know who you are
And the album also ends on a positive note when Devi says “I can’t keep it together, but it ain’t that bad” at the end of the almost power ballad-esque “(Can’t) Keep It Together”.
The production throughout the record is also impeccable. Musically, there is rarely a dull moment. Kick drums hit with such force that even through headphones it sends shivers down your spine, glitchy synths dance in and out of the mix, and guitars come to life in unexpected places. The chaos extends not only to the sound palette but also to the actual song arrangement. Although there are clear hooks, Black Dresses is not particularly interested in standard verse-chorus-verse song structures.