It's been seven years since Nick Harte's stunning breakout album as Shocking Pinks reached the world via his eponymous DFA release. After three albums on New Zealand indie labels, including the esteemed Flying Nun, that were cherry picked for the aforementioned DFA compilation, Harte pretty much disappeared. The Kiwi musician is making up for lost time on Guilt Mirrors, which despite being originally intended as an EP, is being released digitally as a 33-track triple album and spans a daunting two hours and 40 minutes.
Musically, Guilt Mirrors is all over the map in the best possible way. The familiar Shocking Pinks lo-fi indie sound is present, but Guilt Mirrors is way more electronic and diverse, mining seams of krautrock, disco, drone and synth-pop, amongst other things, all fed through Harte's lo-fi, hypnagogic haze. Thematically, the album deals with pain, depression and frustration (especially with Harte's own chronic insomnia) and the album, despite several energetic, upbeat moments — including several dancefloor-friendly numbers including Tristen R Deschain's remix of "Hardfuck" — is a stark aural diary layered with glitch and drone and imbued with monumental crises of faith.
A vinyl version of Guilt Mirrors featuring 11 tracks that works as a kind of "Best Of" edition will be available, but even if it may be a lot to digest, it's certainly worth diving into the full release.
Read an interview with Nick Harte here.
(Stars & Letters)Musically, Guilt Mirrors is all over the map in the best possible way. The familiar Shocking Pinks lo-fi indie sound is present, but Guilt Mirrors is way more electronic and diverse, mining seams of krautrock, disco, drone and synth-pop, amongst other things, all fed through Harte's lo-fi, hypnagogic haze. Thematically, the album deals with pain, depression and frustration (especially with Harte's own chronic insomnia) and the album, despite several energetic, upbeat moments — including several dancefloor-friendly numbers including Tristen R Deschain's remix of "Hardfuck" — is a stark aural diary layered with glitch and drone and imbued with monumental crises of faith.
A vinyl version of Guilt Mirrors featuring 11 tracks that works as a kind of "Best Of" edition will be available, but even if it may be a lot to digest, it's certainly worth diving into the full release.
Read an interview with Nick Harte here.
