- There’s been no shortage of charismatic, talented frontwomen representing for the future in neo-soul. From Nai-Palm to Syd Tha Kid: they’re progressive musically, with those avant-garde but infectious grooves and also socially, crashing through all the sexist glass ceilings and, y’know, actually being women, doing music. Why not take it a step further and be like Brisbane’s Pink Matter, a neo-soul quartet wholly comprised of women? Honestly, it’ll be great when in a couple of years, hopefully, such a thing is so run-of-the-mill that drawing attention to it will be like, why? For now though, ah, well done!
Not to labour the point or anything, but as a woman in music you have to be that much more focused, on point about hitting the benchmarks and achieving those goals. That’s an enduring vibe that I come away with from Pink Matter: no nonsense, ticking boxes, getting it done. Forming in 2016, winning that QUBE Effect people’s choice award back in 2017, gigging like crazy, making a professional-looking-ass music video for that fiery advance single Cleo and, tick, tick, tick, 2018’s here, time to release the first EP. It’s this first substantial release which really says ‘no nonsense’ to me, most of all. The songs here are less given to crazy abstractions than a lot of the neo-soul genre. It’s a bit less ‘future’ musically than some of their inspirations (Hiatus Kaiyote, obviously), but invests heavily in a powerful, straight ahead, rhythm section that just churns through the classic song construction. In this way, with the Rhodes and the drums blasting, there’s a sweaty jazziness that references the likes of BADBADNOTGOOD or, closer to home, Koi Child. It also really demonstrates how much the neo-soul sound owes to jazz, probably more than it actually owes to soul. Every now and then, the downtempo grooves seem to spill over into the jazzier end of triphop too. Which could just mean that there’s nothing new in music, or that I’m an old person for thinking it, but there’s some pleasant echoes of Morcheeba here and there and that’s not to be sneezed at.
It’s funny, for such a musically bullish sound, the lyrics present a headspace that seems like it’s falling apart, from the opener, Dope and its drug haze, with a chorus that is literally, “I’m gone! I’m gone! I’m gone! I’m gone!” Follow that up with Judgement which is all about losing it in the face of someone else’s unnerving gaze: “I can’t, I can’t take it! My mind is racing! The judgement is driving me wild!” At least Cleo is good, old-fashioned unfulfilled desire: “I only see her once in a while, but her figure stains my brain / Leaving me in pain!” Giant, is back to a more generalised dread: “What can I do to shake this feeling, push me out of this endless fear!” Although it does illustrate the mental chaos with the most brilliant transition from the most downtempo beats on the EP into a crazy cavalcade. If it’s all a bit much, there is a consolation in the EP’s closing cut, How Do I, which offers nothing less than an actual love song. “How do you love me? / I think I might love you.” At this point, let’s hope that relationship works out.
One thing I can only see working out is Pink Matter’s future. Whatever the lyrics might say, don’t you believe it, Kerry, Megan, Izzy and Libby are super-solid on all the fundamentals. Makes you think there should be more women in music.
- Chris Cobcroft.