Shedding Skin

Carapace
Children Of The Wave
Sensory Projects, 2008
4 stars

Judging by the press photos of this Melbourne duo, one might file them somewhere between the Ployphonic Spree and Daft Punk – they appear in white gowns, traipsing through rockpools wearing ski goggles and headphones, holding acoustic instruments. They look lost – but that's couldn't be further from the truth. Carapace is like a document of some kind of aural journey of discovery – these boys are looking for something alright, but the goal isn't the finding, it's the search itself. Experimental at its core, the album's closest comparison would be the ramshackle, otherworldly folk leanings of Múm's Summer Make Good – it's a textural melding of found sounds, acoustic instrumentation and ethnic vibes. And, despite some warm electronic flourishes, it never sounds anything less than completely organic. By all accounts these guys are a bit hermitic, and only recently played their first live show - hopefully sometime soon, like the cicadas on the album's cover, they can leave their shells (or 'carapaces' – see, there's the link!) behind once more and bring their unique sound to a venue near you.

Artwork: B
It actually took me Wikipedia-ing "carapace" to discover that the cicada shells on the album's cover are, in fact, carapace themselves. How 'bout that! The design of this album is very nice, minimalist and neat. All up, it's a very classy package.

Published in mX, Thursday January 15, 2009.