warpaintOver the past few years Warpaint have had tongues wagging after the mass acclaim generated from ‘The Fool’. Rave reviews followed for their live performances and they had the undeniable air of a band riding the crest of a wave.  In reality it was far too early in Warpaint’s career to start declaring them to be the greatest thing since sliced bread. A truer reflection will emerge over time and the first step in assessing Warpaint’s current standing is whether their eponymously named follow up meets the mark. Warpaint consciously set out to make a more experimental follow up to ‘The Fool’ and in terms of sound, this is an album where the focus in on keyboards and different percussion more than on than guitar. This change of focus is very apparent on the dream like duo of Teese and Biggy.

There is a looser feel to the songs on ‘Warpaint’ as if they move like smoke around a room: they feel barely there, yet they make in indelible mark. Love Is To Die perfectly illustrates the point as it seeps subliminally into your mind. Most songs on ‘Warpaint’  are slow burners with the exception of the snaking, hypnotic Disco//very which is more melty than a Salvador Dali clock. Album closer Son is probably the most straightforward track, and has a fragile beauty that shimmers through.

There is a fine line between producing hazy dream like songs and ones that are as boring as people explaining their dreams. By and large Warpaint succeed, with the exception of Go In which wafts about before being forgotten. Overall this is an album to drift in your subconscious for weeks on end. Warpaint have moved confidently onwards and have taken the next step into confirming their credentials as the genuine article.