Heathered Pearls - Body Complex

Heathered Pearls
Body Complex
2015

There are occasionally those records that jump right out of the headphones and surprise you. As deep in a scene as you want to claim to be there is nothing better than hearing something totally new yet completely pleasing. That is what Body Complex is. It takes elements from all over, shoegaze, electronic, dance and boom-tick blends them together to create something really special. With this album more than anything Heathered Pearls is creating an experience, emotions ebb and flow across each track taking you from supremely high to far down below. And then among all of this you can actually move your body to this music, as the title possibly recommends. The synths swell on this record almost like a heartbeat, "Holographic Lodge" in particular feels like a breath coming in and out letting you meditate on the moment that is instead of focusing on what might be coming next in the song. This entire album lives in the exact moment you are listening to, it has a great sense of time and space. Lofty terms for describing a music album, but with this record that very feeling is palpable.

The drum machine on the record is deceptively simple. The tracks that do feature a more upbeat sound allow the clicks and booms to serve more as a placeholder for what is going on behind them. It allows Heathered Pearls to experiment in the space behind the drums without loosing the track to a lack of substance. "Perfume Catalogue"  has a deceptively light touch and just a faint hint of a vocal that foreshadows what is to come later in the record. "Warm Air Estate" actually does feature a full female vocal and it is a nice change of pace and an interesting direction for this heavily techno album to go. The one critique I would have for Body Complex is that the tracks to blend together all to well. On most albums this really would not be an issue but this record feels like it is begging for it. Body Complex is one of those records where you will not forget when you heard it and you will want to experience it again and again. Get it now.

8.5 out of 10