Sometimes the smallest funniest and seemingly most insignificant comments can drastically affect how you hear an album. An unidentified friend of mine commented that the highly anticipated collaboration between ’60s heartthrob crooner-turned-avant-garde auteur Scott Walker and drone metallers Sunn O))) was essentially “Lulu for hipsters.” He was referring to the reprehensible 2011 album by Metallica and Lou Reed.
Against my wishes this comment severely distressed me going into my initial listen of Soused. But the material itself quickly usurped such an unfair comparison. In fact Soused is one of the most arresting impeccable alliances imaginable.
Really Soused isn’t much of a departure from Walker’s last release 2012’s Bish Bosch. It is however surprisingly more accessible. The electronic ripples the screeching horns and Sunn’s lasting whirr build a perfect backdrop for Walker’s alarming warbling that a mother has “hidden her babies away.” The nightmarish metallic scrapes and hair-raising synths on “Fetish” make it arguably one of Walker’s most unnerving works yet — and that’s saying something for the man who gave us “SDSS1416+13B (Zercon A Flagpole Sitter).”
Unlike Lulu this isn’t the biggest-selling metal band and a widely loved icon looking to throw off fans by going avant-garde for kicks. Soused is Walker Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson at the top of their games giving their fans everything they expected wanted and dreamed of. Yeah Soused is that perfect.
