It is oddly appropriate that the highly anticipated collaboration of Cate le Bon and Deerhunter's Bradford Cox— part of Mexican Summer's Myths EP series— is released the day after Halloween. Beginning with charming harmony, the seven-track EP gradually grows more sinister. It doesn't lose its charm, though — Cox and Le Bon bring distinct characters to life with sharp vocals, gritty ambience and lyrics that uproot expectations.
Cox and Le Bon shape an environment of exquisite unpredictability through story fragments. "Canto!" and "Secretary" — the catchiest tracks on the EP — are followed by the offbeat eeriness of "Companions in Misfortune," an instrumental intermission where strings swirl and keys prod, segueing the record into increasing unease.
"Constance" — also purely instrumental— reflects bustle and movement that ebbs, flows, quickens, and slows. "Fireman" spotlights the darkly distorted voice of Cox in a monologue of reportage, backdropped by a more whimsical chorus sung by Le Bon.
"Jericho," another brief interlude, sets the scene for "What Is She Wearing." A cacophonic culmination of the web of personas the record weaves, the final track is a dryly entrancing meditation on all that is at once trivial and irritating in everyday life. Myths 004 is a feat of atmospheric storytelling that keeps us on our toes.
(Mexican Summer)Cox and Le Bon shape an environment of exquisite unpredictability through story fragments. "Canto!" and "Secretary" — the catchiest tracks on the EP — are followed by the offbeat eeriness of "Companions in Misfortune," an instrumental intermission where strings swirl and keys prod, segueing the record into increasing unease.
"Constance" — also purely instrumental— reflects bustle and movement that ebbs, flows, quickens, and slows. "Fireman" spotlights the darkly distorted voice of Cox in a monologue of reportage, backdropped by a more whimsical chorus sung by Le Bon.
"Jericho," another brief interlude, sets the scene for "What Is She Wearing." A cacophonic culmination of the web of personas the record weaves, the final track is a dryly entrancing meditation on all that is at once trivial and irritating in everyday life. Myths 004 is a feat of atmospheric storytelling that keeps us on our toes.