@Peace - Anaesthetised

"Girl Songs", one of my favourite albums of 2013, is the second from Auckland-based hip-hop collective @Peace. Their first, self-titled album released in 2011 is also frequently played on my urban foot forays. Driven by the lyrical heft of Homebrew's Tom Scott and Lui Tuiasau , with beats from Christoph El Truento and Dandruff Dicky (also additional instrumentation I think), and keyboards from B.Haru, the latest album is not for the easily-offended. It is however an honest, moving account of the break-up of a relationship, and the conflicting emotions and regret around that. The album's intersection between poetry, jazz, beats/hip hop is interesting, and the execution of that ambitious blend puts it in the top group for 2013 so far. I am sure the album was more intuitively put together than "designed", but the end result seems pretty clever to me. Favourite songs off the album include "Cake", "Flowers", and "Bar Stool Balancing Act". The beautiful, erotic and slightly disturbing video for "Anaesthetised" was directed by Tom Gould. The band have put it out there that they are breaking up. Not sure how real that is, or if that is to do with a move to Australia, but exiting on a high ain't bad. If they aren't breaking up - great! You can buy both "Girl Songs" and "At Peace" at the link below.

http://at-peace.bandcamp.com/