Troth & Jon Collin - Devotion Objects

Amelia Besseny and Cooper Bowman, the husband-wife duo who form the now Tasmania-based experimental dream pop group Troth, have shown themselves both keen collaborators and active listeners over their short but prolific time together. This year saw a second record as Th' Blisks, the group they share with Yuta Matsumura, while Bowman's long-standing Altered States imprint has remained as agile and giving as ever, and I've even heard word of another collaboration with a known WOE figure that's soon to surface - this is not inconsequential, speaking of a mindset that likes to give, share and listen in equal measure. As such, the somewhat gilded notion of a connection with our beloved Jon Collin arrives with a fair amount of expectation, especially given that Collin himself has a long history of displaying much the same interests and characteristics. On first listen, Devotion Objects feels more attuned to the Troth universe than that of Collin's - instantly there's clear evidence of the kind of amber light, purgatorial pop that's cropped up on near-everything the pair have had a hand in. Closer listening, however, really brings out Collin's contributions. The various stringed instruments with which Collin is associated with are submerged under an ambi-pop glossolalia, ebbing and flowing in increasingly hypnotic ways. Oscillating between the heatsick, lovesick and seasick, the overall effect is one of stunned disorientation. I wont say this is as blissful or as ecstatic as either artist has ever been, but it is certainly both of those things, like their pairing has encouraged a doubling down on their defining characteristics, to be especially Troth, to be especially Jon Collin. Or, to put it another way, they've brought the best out in each other.