<p><span><span>- A shadowy electronic rocker out of Sydney, <strong>Alec Mallia</strong> of Autosuggest, wants to move beyond his origins. From a background of post-punk and new wave -he’s a dedicated fan of <strong>Joy Division</strong> and <strong>New Order</strong>- he now looks to embrace a different kind of aggression, cold and darkness. For his debut full-length it’s an unlikely but genuine surprise to discover that Mallia has, quite artlessly, invented ‘90’s industrial a second time round. </span></span></p>
<p><span><span>Listen to <em>Tame Harm</em> and everyone else might have flashbacks to <strong>Nine Inch Nails</strong>’ <em>Head Like A Hole</em> but Mallia was actually channeling the rock-infused-’tronics of late <strong>Bowie </strong>and <em>Yeezus </em>era <strong>Kanye</strong>. I guess it doesn’t matter how you get there so long as you get there right? Assuming anyone does want to get there again. Even after all these years NIИ is still pumping this stuff out, but it’s not exactly taste-maker material at this point. Then I thought about that for a second and realised that in a time where country-rap is taking the charts by storm, maybe finding a little solace in the past isn’t a bad thing. </span></span></p>
<p><span><span>Industrial, with its bondage gear and teen angst was never very grown up, but maybe Mallia is channeling a little more <strong>Bernard Sumner </strong>than <strong>Trent Reznor </strong>because there’s something quite stylish about <em>Tame Harm. </em>The guitars and synths might be all fuzzed and full of distortion but the songwriting is more about sexy discotechque dysfunction than raw, emotional psychosis. Lyrics like “<em>What makes you move, shedding closure / Torn all like this / What makes you dance, gives you all</em> / <em>Torn all like this</em>” should point you in the right direction. In fact, strip away the guitars and you’ll hear how much of a piece this record sounds with Autosuggest’s older, more obviously new wave channeling material.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>There’s quite a lot that’s lowkey about <em>Tame Harm</em>. Mallia’s voice, for instance, barely ever rises above a murmur. Much of the musical palette is also muted and grey: like <strong>HTRK</strong> at their most enervated. I think that’s what makes the spikes of industrial fuzz -which are hot-blooded and full of rhythm and melody- an essential counterweight. Finally it makes this record one of real balance and that’s something that you don’t generally say about industrial music.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>Autosuggest is a series of sucker punches for me. A fresh, new industrial artist in 2019, arriving by unexpected means and delivering this record. For all its supposed angst and aggression <em>Tame Harm </em>alarms me because under the surface it is secretly exerting careful, studious control. That’s an unsettling sensation I can buy into.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>- Chris Cobcroft.</span></span></p>
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1913607502/size=large/bgcol=f…; seamless><a href="http://autosuggest.bandcamp.com/album/tame-harm">Tame Harm by Autosuggest</a></iframe>
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