Th Blisks - How So?

Big delivery of high end Altered States goods dropped off late last week, principle among them this debut offering from Aussie supergroup, Th Blisks. Supergroup might be over egging the pudding somewhat (guilty as ever), though there's certainly pedigree in their ranks - the trio is made up on both halves of Troth and the ever-busy, Yuta Matsumura. Though Matsumura has shown enough chamelonic qualities of late to render it near-pointless assuming where he'll go next, i'd say How So? leans more into Troth territory, evoling their synth dreamworld sound into new tripped-out, dubby terrain, Amelia Besseny's vocal it's pop-oriented rudder. This is music very much of the contemporary Austrailian underground variety, finding easy company alongside the smoky purgatorial pop of Carla dal Forno, YL Hooi, F Ingers et al, while also possessing an ethereal quality that speaks of the post-punk imagined by the early 4AD pioneers. Ghostly, elliptical songs that reward repeated listens by virtue of leaving a little unsaid, a little shapeless indefinition. It's taken a while for these records to arrive, which has afforded me some time to bend my head around the music, and i've found myself coming back to these songs with renewed vigour each time, grabbing at their shadows but never really being able to pin them down. It's that kind of elusive quality that often encourages longevity and How So? does certainly feel like a recent high point for Altered States, a label not exactly short on notables as is.