FRANKIE COSMOS - Close It Quietly

It must be acknowledged that Greta Kline embodies the essence of modern indie-pop. Not the kind turned into an event by a press eager to claim paternity over phenomena, but the kind that already emerged in the 1970s (power-pop?), as an antithesis to the ever more imposing role of the industry in youth music, and then fully exploded with the advent of punk.

Under the name Frankie Cosmos, the young New York artist released nearly thirty digital albums in just two years, before taking the decisive step toward a steadier, more regular output. With her first official album, "Zentropy", Kline not only broke the flow of her homespun creativity, but also enlisted an actual band. A choice that did nothing to dilute her talent, while giving her a bit more visibility.

Since then she has produced a string of records of consistently high quality, the fruit of a tenacity and coherence that are the basic ingredients of a winning creative formula.

"Close It Quietly" could be called the album of maturity, or more precisely of certainties: the band is tighter than ever and hints at a slight toughening of the sound. At the same time, Greta keeps increasing the track count, going from the ten of "Zentropy", through the fifteen of "Next Thing" and the eighteen of "Vessel". For the new album she puts together as many as twenty-one. Bittersweet but never saccharine harmonies, languid yet incisive rhythms, breezy and unobtrusive synths, and a quavering voice straight out of the best twee-pop tradition are the language of this second effort for Sub Pop, released on CD in a limited edition tucked inside a little plush toy.

Twenty-one pleasantly fleeting tracks, a deliberately rough-and-ready collage, scattershot yet emotionally coherent. Despite everything, "Close It Quietly" shows no slackening in the songwriting, bolstered by several arrangements that grab the attention: the double-speed mood of "Moonsea", the rhythmic solidity of "Cosmic Shop", the naif impetuousness of "Even Though I Knew", the ecstatic chords of "A Joke", the Pavement-like incipit of "So Blue", the rhythmic turbulence of "I'm It", the mournfully contagious euphoria of "Windows".

The new album under the Frankie Cosmos name (the fourth in her official discography) confirms both Kline's talent and her unstoppable creative drive, but doesn't fully resolve the doubts of those still waiting for an evolution toward a more ambitious musicality, one able to give real meaning to the otherwise enjoyable fragmentary nature of the emotions at play.

"Close It Quietly" is yet another good record from the New York musician and her loyal band, but next time around it will be fair to expect something a bit more enticing.

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05/11/2019