Piroshka: Love Drips And Gathers | 4ZZZ Brisbane 102.1FM

- The British band Piroshka emerged with their debut album Brickbat in 2019 to a modest but respectable reception, considering the line-up’s pedigree. The most distinctive presence is singer/guitarist Miki Berenyi, her cool sing-song vocal approach unchanged since her peak days in ‘90's shoegaze legends Lush. Completing the line-up is Berenyi’s partner KJ McKillop from another ‘90's dreampop combo Moose, former Elastica drummer Justin Welch and one-time Modern English bassist Mick Conroy.

As Berenyi summarises, the first album was “Britpop” while their new studio release Love Drips And Gathers is “shoegaze”. This description is not entirely inaccurate, particularly enhanced by the fact that the musical roots of these musicians is an equal straddle of both genres.

Indeed, the new album does boast a more contemplative, atmospheric tone compared to the scrappier indie guitar pop of its predecessor. The opening track Hastings 1973 is closer to a hybrid of Brit- and dream-pop, with the distant echoing synths and horn coda not entirely dissimilar to the more reflective moods conjured up on Blur and Pulp deep cuts. The Mellotron and synths are similarly evocative in The Knife Thrower’s Daughter, settling into a Broadcast/Boards Of Canada shimmer that leads directly into the ear worm of a lead single, Scratching At The Lid which is a luxurious shoegaze pop banger. There is a more exotic blend of plucked strings and twinkling xylophone in the leisurely groove of Echo Loco, while the beat gets proper Madchester baggy in the loose-limbed V.O.

Lyrically, Berenyi and McKillop take turns, paying loving homage to each other, their childhoods, and families in songs both celebratory and elegiac. The almost Laurie Anderson-esque Familiar shows Berenyi better than ever at delivering a sparse ballad, before the static-y, electro-throb We Told You closes the album in a word-free blend of buzzing keyboards, throbbing motorik rhythm and disembodied samples of Berenyi’s voice.

To fill out Berenyi’s description of the album a little more, there is indeed a closer resemblance to the hazy shimmer of shoegaze on this album than the last one – but it also combines other musical elements and clearly audible, heartfelt lyrics in a manner distant to the traditional distortion and buried vocals that frequently go with the genre. It’s a subtle, thoughtful pop record that shows these veteran musicians sounding as fresh and ageless as ever.

- Matt Thrower.