Jade Imagine: Basic Love | 4ZZZ Brisbane 102.1FM

- Jade Imagine operate at their own pace. Two years removed from a stellar and well-received debut EP it’s now time for the group’s first album excursion. This outing adds a welcome fidelity -which is to be expected on a full-length- to the band’s pretty lackadaisical style. That’s not to say that their slacker drawl and soporific songs are bland or insipid: what Basic Love does is flesh out the -much covered- modern malaise. Acquiescing to the world around them while wearing a Teflon rain coat, the Sunshine Coast-cum-Melbourne group let the sedating rain fall. All the falling drops do is roll along while the band moves forward with blissful non-resistance.

Gonna Do Nothing is a fitting manifesto for what is to follow. It’s a purposeful plough forward that searches for respite even in the face of life’s unending Groundhog day. Less melodious, firm vocals proclaim evening plans as grittier guitars warp the proclamation of doing nothing into a defiant rebellion. Chopped and repeated vocals lines pulse like a heartbeat that underpins the music; a choice which breathes in an air of emergency. Followed by a disgruntled diatribe of a ceaseless news cycles, The News wrangles with an information overload. Vocalist Jade McInally playfully laments the disillusionment with a tongue buried deep in her cheek. It’s a tightly played song belying its superficial, flippant fun with backing vocals chirping away and a cheeky piano releasing levity. Things take a turn for the technosexual on Remote Control, a song where the titular item is a gateway of escapism. Here guitars make the hot tag to synths. As these synths evolve from an introduction to overt domination and a guiding of the chorus, the song’s lyrical themes are emulated in its composition. This is revisited on Cut Off. An abrupt ending to a relationship of sorts is played out musically, through a tumultuous instrumental backdrop. Feedback swells with confusion, taking direct cues from the narrative. Claps of emotive guitars push the same internal potency that Self Defense Family achieve, reinforced by the forlorn guitar passages that play it out. In direct contrast, Get Out Of Your Head is stark and bare. The stripped back slow-burner tries to break free from the shackles of the feedback-thought-loop by imploring for a release through the tangible, the physical, the concrete. Wrapping up with Don’t Say It’s Over, those synths return. To send the album off, they play dream state arpeggios. This serenades us long enough for the ethereal saxophone to whisk us away into serenity.

Most of what’s on Basic Love is deliberately slow burning. It works at its own tempo and explores every appropriate avenue in each song before succinctly capping it off. Jade Imagine have a clear cut idea of the songs they want to write and are willing to let them form and develop as necessary. That’s some serious confidence for a debut record. The personnel behind the record are seasoned veterans though and it’s an absolute strength in their songwriting. The idea of “modern malaise” might get an eye roll or two, or just cast aside as so much moral melodrama. Jade Imagine really make a case for it though, with every element of their work. The interplay of the music with the narrative is what stands out here. As much as it’s an album appropriate for extended car trips, it works as a whole package, and albums that work as a whole package are few and far between.

- Matt Lynch.
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2474462211/size=large/bgcol=f…; seamless><a href="http://jadeimagine.bandcamp.com/album/basic-love">Basic Love by jade imagine</a></iframe>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xY6-vvRqNYo" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>