PREOCCUPATIONS - Ill At Ease

Of that great movement which was and continues to be the post-punk revival, Preoccupations have always represented, in some way and in their own fashion, its purest and most uncompromising soul. If anything, up to now the Canadians had made their sound ever more jagged as, from their beginnings under the name Viet Cong to the name change forced upon them, the discography was growing richer, as if doubling down were the only road worth taking, right up to this "Ill At Ease", a title that says it all ("ill at ease", roughly) and that plays with their usual themes and sounds ("I've been buried alive/ but feel delighted", goes the title track), while also partly trying to renew them.

The menacing hits that kick off "Focus" and the album itself are a warning, more than an omen, as the track runs nervous and nocturnal without seeking or finding resolution, showing nonetheless that Preoccupations are still capable of producing perfect post-punk anti-anthems. "Panic" is cut from the same cloth, likewise announced programmatically by hits that here sound more like gunshots, less introverted and framed by one of the best choruses of the bunch. Closing out the "sonic" trio is an "Andromeda" that winks at more accessible shores, though it ends up being the least interesting offering on this front.

What piques curiosity are the passages where Matt Flegel and co. decide to deviate from the script, in search of less obvious solutions. "Bastards", in this sense, is a 100% Preoccupations track, yet its melodic freshness and its knack for playing on the edge of a tension that builds and dissolves reveal a less jagged, but no less convincing, side of the Canadians. "Ill At Ease" even allows itself the luxury of veering towards an American indie-rock still lashed by the drum machine raging in the background, but dominated by guitar arpeggios that favour brooding introspection over a sense of hostility.

One of the album's peaks is "Retrograde", which opens by evoking Joy Division and sounds like it's about to explode, only to settle into a kind of ballad that drifts along for three quarters of its length, deciding only at the very last moment to take on a finished, definitive shape. There's still time for a "Sken" with a new wave sheen, before "Krem2" closes the game, lingering in an undefined space that still looks very much like a black hole.

Eight songs, eight boulders - often running past the five-minute mark - which nonetheless weigh less than one might expect, after trying to describe them in words.

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25/05/2025