A standout example of Motherhood’s multiplicity is track four, “Four” (natch), which Jasamine White-Gluz called “perhaps my favourite No Joy song ever written.” Hypnotic electronic guitar notes buzz and bend, slowly multiplying into a dull roar of feedback punctuated only by piano and handclaps, like 90 seconds of a high-tension wire being pulled tight to the point of snapping—and just when you think it’s about to break, all that pressure just evaporates, with a serene trip-hop beat bubbling up in its place. Of course, it’s not long before that cathartic groove transforms, in turn, into a hard-nosed, post-punk instrumental, its caustic guitars swelling and receding like a pair of black lungs clinging to life.
“Four” by No Joy off the album ‘Motherhood’ out on Joyful Noise Recordings (world) & Handdrawn Dracula in Canada.
