Second outing from Australian three-piece Th' Blisks, a supergroup of sorts that brings together Cooper Bowman and Amelia Besseny of Troth, and DIY renaissance man Yuta Matsumura. The group first came to our attention in late 2022 when Bowman issued their debut LP through his ever-active Altered State Tapes imprint, a smoked-out dreamworld transmission with a small-print run that didn't seem to fully satisfy the interest it generated. While I'd not exactly call Elixa 'much-anticipated', those intrigued by that first record will find much to cling to here, as the trio lean with increasing confidence into their specific formation of dubby glossolalia in ways that recall the Purgatorial Pop sound of contemporary Australia (think Tarquin Manek, Joninne, YL Hooi et al), the blue-light gloom of trip hop and imperial era 4AD. Did Thievery Corporation ever remix A.R. Kane? Elixa's confluence of ghostly melodica, smoker's delight breaks and keening vocals suggest we might not need to find out. Hypnagogic isn't quite the right understanding, but if sleep-deprived were an aesthetic, this might be it, zoned-out and making half-sense, one foot in reality, the other imagining a different one altogether. It's the kind of record that arrives in a plume, the songs a little shapeless but heavy on foggy texture, not quite possible to grasp hold of but pregnant with a feeling that lingers on long after the needle hits the centre. Like with the apostrophe that suggests the missing 'e' in their name, Th' Blisks power resides in what they imply, not show.
