Wild Beasts - Present Tense

Wild Beasts - Present Tense
Rating - 9

The Scottish company Brewdog makes a beer with an alcoholic content of 55%. For context, a typical beer is about 5-10% alcohol. They do this through a distillation process in which they repeatedly freeze the beer and remove the ice, essentially taking out all of the water and leaving pure alcohol. I mention this random bit of knowledge because, throughout their four-album span, Wild Beasts seem to have taken a page straight out of Brewdog's recipe book. With each album they distill their sound into a more potent product, and Present Tense, their latest and most refined effort, continues the trend in fine form. From the magnetic opening bass line on "Wanderlust" to the warm, ethereal closing notes of "Palace,"  Present Tense pours a steady stream of sleek, polished music that absolutely drips with atmosphere. 

Brewdog beers sometimes even come packaged in wild beasts

"Wanderlust," the first single off the album, closes with what is sure to be one of the finest two-minute stretches of music in 2014. When singer Hayden Thorpe repeats the refrain "Don't confuse me for someone who gives a fuck" over a slow burn of synths, Wild Beasts reveal their best qualities: the ability to build to a climax that feels both cathartic and restrained, and the cleverness to recognize when a slight shift in melody can change the tone of an entire song. 




There are moments like this throughout Present Tense, and while they've been a staple of Wild Beasts albums since 2009's Two Dancers, they rely more heavily on synthesizer and bass than ever before. These elements cut through the punchy "Sweet Spot" and provide stirring crescendos in "Daughters" and "A Dog's Life." They leave subtler impressions on the understated but just as electrifying tracks "A Simple Beautiful Truth" and "Nature Boy," a sharp new element to pair with the group's often lithe instrumentals. 

As a whole, the album flows beautifully - perhaps too much so. Those giving just a passing listen might deem it monochromatic when it is anything but; all slink and sensuality that requires attention but never demands it. 

The music is not the only thing Wild Beasts have distilled. Where their lyrics were once caricature-esque in their outlandish declarations of masculinity (debut Limbo Panto was full of gems, like when Thorpe declares "I'd swear by my own cock and balls" on "Woebegone Wanderers"), they've now discovered, as tends to happen with age, that there's nothing wrong with displays of actual human emotion. 




The trick for Wild Beasts is that, whether they're being buffoons, predators or romantics, the group knows how to write and deliver a killer line. Take, for instance, "Pregnant Pause"; as straightforward a love song as you're bound to hear from this group, but still able to offer a line like "Speak to me in our tongue/a pillow talk patois from a land long gone." It's loving without being mawkish - always a danger when featuring such dramatic vocals.

This is not to say that it's all love and romance, either. These Beasts still bare enough teeth to keep things dark and sometimes dirty, but there's a new warmth to the music that adds a welcome compliment - not to mention necessary growth - to what has been an otherwise coldly debaucherous run of albums. Like the best distilled spirits, even if served on ice it can still burn on the way down. 

Present Tense is out via Domino Records on 2/25/14