Android Lust

If your music wardrobe is in need of a makeover this fall, Android Lust might be the just the new thing you’re after. Not your generic sounding industrial/EBM, sole member Shikhee goes all over the place with this one. The keyboards are staccato and busy with dark orchestral backgrounds not heard so beautifully partnered since Skinny Puppy. She has moments of rhythmic aggression, but she doesn’t get lost in a frenzy of repetitive beats. Each piece is deliberately crafted with a loose structure rather than the formulaic verse-chorus-verse-repeat, and is made up of sounds unique to each individual piece. As a gal, it would be easy for her to fall into either the Siouxsie Sioux or Liz Fraser camps, but she’s too busy being original to be obviously influenced by any other women in particular. Her vocals are poignant, and she never hides behind over-production or distortion and effects. She whispers, yells, gives tortured wails, then belts it out with the range and rich ethereality of Sarah McLachlan. With the odd contribution of session musicians on flute and viola, the disc has its gothic moments, especially at the finish with “Burn.” Aggressive and severe enough to appeal to the real rivetheads but she still maintains a darker, more organic side. And she created this masterpiece all by herself. It’s about damn time we hear more from the ladies of the industrial world.