-To possess one's Venus in the house of Leo, in an astronomical sense, is to possess intense romantic and artistic inclinations, like no other: an abundant appreciation and desire for affection, drama and art. It is to be warm, romantic and loyal, yet possessive and jealous, with a mind for symbolism & sentiment.
Though intention or sheer serendipity, Australia's dark neo-pop darlings HTRK, have conjured a near-precise sonic embodiment of this astrological alignment. Alchemists of emotion and evocations, Jonnine Standish & Nigel Yang return to the realm of hypnotic, sedative soundtracks with their long awaited and much lusted-after fourth release; Venus in Leo.
Venus in Leo reads like an auspicious book of horoscopes told though nine tracks. Through it, we gain glimpses of both the future and past. Of heartache, devotion, ennui and aspirations both pure and those doomed to failure. Each song, akin to an entry in a dusty astrology paperback, delivers a vague yet strangely personal message from somewhere...other. Written during the Australian Summer in the Dandenong Ranges, a hazy, heady, sunset glow permeates the album, as do the entangled emotions of excitement, anticipation and apathy that inevitably unfurl around us as one year melts into another.
Yangs’ delicate fingerpicking ebbs & flows over precise, pared back synthetic percussion, in a beautiful union of the organic and digitised. This contrast gives the album its crisp yet velvety embrace and crafts a dreamlike, protective aura around the album though which Standish’s vocals call out clean, like a spectral voice; one well versed in the swelling highs & crushing lows of romance and routine. Placed quite forward in the mix (a first for HTRK) Standish’s lyrics lend the album a confessional, intimate feel and blur between recited memories, recalled dreams and letters to loved ones. Like warm breath on a cold mirror, both personal and reflective, Jonnines’ lyrics are a point of pride for the album.
Where Work (Work Work) -the bands adored & acclaimed 2011 LP- and 2009’s masochistic masterpiece, Marry Me Tonight are dark fever dreams: brooding, erotically charged and all consuming in their lo-fi, distortion heavy delight, Venus In Leo is spacious & sensual, contemplative & objective. Within it, you’ll catch glimpses of Pink Industry, Spiritualized, Cocteau Twins and Lynchian film scores. It fits beautifully betwixt other contemporary releases from their fellow antipodean peers Carla Dal Forno, Pleasure Symbols, Time For Dreams and Venitian Blinds.
Venus in Leo is a sharply resolved composition of moods, musings & memory which coalesces into an expansive, evocative and calming soundscape. At one level, an intimate meditation on the intricacies of personality and emotions & experience, on another, it is a consideration of the grander cosmic forces that perhaps underpin & influence these phenomena. Sensual, shadowy & warm, Venus in Leo unfurls in a slow tempo beauty into the perfect Springtime soundtrack to dim the lights, deconstruct your birth chart & plan your summer romance to.
- Dominique Furphy.