Rachel Zeffira - The Deserters

Die werten Richter werden, wenn sie ihre Akten des Jahrgangs 2011 durchblättern, feststellen, dass Rachel Zeffira bereits einmal vor Gericht stand. Zusammen mit ihrem Mittäter Faris Badwab (The Horrors) musste sie sich für das Projekt Cat's Eyes verantworten. Die Meinung der Richter war im letzten Jahr einhellig: "Cat's Eyes" erhielt drei Mal die Wertung 7,0 Punkte. 

Dieses Jahr wird die kanadische Sopranistin, Komponistin und Multi-Instrumentalistin mit ihrem Solo-Debütalbum "The Deserters" vorstellig. Das Album wurde über das von ihr und Badwan betriebene Label RAF Records veröffentlicht und unter Mithilfe einiger Mitglieder von TOY und der S.C.U.M.-Schlagzeugerin Melissa Rigby in den Londoner Abbey Road Studios bzw. The Pool aufgenommen. 

"The Deserters" wird von Zeffiras heller Stimme und den ausgefeilten Arrangements (Streicher, Kirchenorgel, Piano, Oboe, Hörner, Harfe) dominiert und pendelt zwischen Gothic- und Dreampop. Auch wenn mit "To Here Knows When" ein My Bloody Valentine-Cover auf dem Album zu finden ist, sind die Inspirationen weniger im Shoegaze als in der Klassik oder im sinistren Folk des Singer/Songwriters Nick Drake zu lokalsieren.  

She might be classically-trained, but to write off her compositional craft as mere whimsy is to totally ignore a true, rare brilliance. The Deserters, given a chance, will completely negate any such journalistic silliness with just one listen, because it is a jolt of psychedelic, oozing instrumental wonder and songwriting magnificence.

Canadian Zeffira has a uniquely simplistic and powerful melodic knack which satisfies the head, but to massage the heart she has a real aptitude for arrangements. Oscillating strings, reeds and flutes are used with invention throughout, on the chug of Break the Spell and in the closing organ expanse of Goodbye Divine – all evidence that Zeffira is skipping wildly ahead of the pack.

Nyman-like undulations in texture, Debussy recalling piano washes, Krautrock momentum and a deeply romantic vantage jostle for attention, and it's to Zeffira's credit that no single element dominates. Enlisting the pop-psych ensemble TOY is something of a masterstroke on Here on In, using simple cellular tools to gently build a splashy, sulky and playlist-friendly pop song. Even the cover of My Bloody Valentine's To Here Knows When is unerringly convincing as entirely her own work, turning Kevin Shields' song about a druggy orgasm into a tender shimmer of intimacy.

Neatly, Zeffira sings "I might have seen something written about you / About the things you used to do," at one point on Star. It's an interesting line not just because it ties in with what people are writing about her already, but more because it's a forward-looking statement, about what used to be true.

With an album so perfectly formed and well made, it's the only possible perspective she could have. The Deserters is unequivocally demanding of your attention, as accomplished as it is tummy-meltingly wonderful to listen to.

(BBC)