Absolutely Kosher
It’s easy to forget while trawling the dark and myriad tunnels of Azeda Booth’s In Flesh Tones that the otherworldly sounds coming from the speakers were moulded and captured somewhere in the wilds of Calgary. There are small nods to that fact on both the elegiac “Kensington” and the minimalist sketch “East Village” but given those titles’ international predecessors it’s easy to picture Azeda Booth playing just as well in London and New York as they do here.
It’s not just sycophantic civic pride speaking either — no song regardless of geography has been quite as beautiful this summer as “Numberguts” all swelling synths and topping percussion until a gently picked acoustic guitar outro. “Lobster Quadrille” meshes together sputtering beats with a sputtering accordion the phrasing and construction sitting comfortably alongside the best of Xiu Xiu and Mum.
In Flesh Tones isn’t the type of record that gives up its secrets easily. Each listen reveals something else entirely. Women are poised to break outside of Calgary and Chad Van Gaalen is switching things up with the more electronics-minded Soft Airplane — Azeda Booth have just staked their rightful claim alongside them.
