The Irrepressibles - Superheroes

Tatsächlich liegt das letzte reguläre Album von The Irrepressibles bereits 8 Jahre zurück: Nach dem Debüt „Mirror Mirror“ (2010) konnte mich Jamie McDermott mit seinem an Antony & The Johnsons erinnernden queeren Art- und Kammerpop auch auf „Nude“ (2012) überzeugen, so dass ich zwei Jahre später auch noch die drei „Nude“ EPs kaufte. 

Danach wurde es jahrelang still um McDermott und sein Projekt, bis 2018 gleich drei Singles und Videos auftauchten („Submission“, „Anxiety“ und „Dominance“), die aus einem dritten Album stammen sollten. Das Album kam auch in dem Jahr nicht mehr, dafür 2019 mit „International“ eine weitere Single, die hinsichtlich eines Albums für keine weitere Aufklärung sorgen sollte, aber wie ihre drei Vorgänge klanglich verwirrend war, denn orchestrale Arrangements waren nichts mehr zu hören. The Irrepressibles hatten sich mit zahlreichen Gastmusikern in Richtung Electronica-Experimente entwickelt. Dazu Mastermind McDermott:

I will always transform as an artist with each of my albums... always expressing my life, that time, and my thoughts with sounds that best do this & as I best can at that time. I do not compose & song-write for success/ego. I do it as I must process my experience and capture it.

Die Transformation ist ihm wirklich gelungen - und auch die Veröffentlichung seines dritten Albums, das eine homosexuelle Liebesgeschichte in Berlin erzählt. Alle zuvor veröffentlichten Songs sind enthalten, was aber bei insgesamt 8 Titeln auch nur für eine Spielzeit von 31 Minuten sorgt. Umso schneller kann man dann aber „Superheroes“ wieder beiseite- und ein älteres Album von The Irrepressibles auflegen.  

Superheroes isn’t a bad album, but it is largely forgettable. Sadly. Throughout you understand what Irrepressible is trying to do by mixing Yello’s playfulness, Penguin Cafe Orchestra’s luscious orchestration, the avant-garde production of Arca with Michael Stein and Kyle Dixon’s 80s aesthetic. But it doesn’t really come off. Instead it buries its point under a mish-mosh of contrasting styles. If Irrepressible had written killer songs and Scott Walker-ed them up it cold have been incredible, but as the songs aren’t as strong as on their previous albums it all falls a bit flat. ‘Dominance’ is a prime example of this. The main lyric of “I’ve got some kinky shit, I want to try with you” is hardly subversive nor is it inviting. And this is the problem with Superheroes. What Irrepressible is saying isn’t ground-breaking, that new or interesting and the backing tracks have to work twice as hard to keep our interest. But due to the lacklustre subject matter the race is already lost.

The most disappointing thing about Superheroes is that if Irrepressible had leaned heavier towards the batshit end of the album, ‘The Child Falls in Love’, or nailed the nostalgia of ‘Anxiety’ it would have worked better, but instead it sits in the safe zone between the two, and comes off worse for it. And this is the feeling that lingers long after the album finishes. If Irrepressible had just gone for it a bit more ‘Superheroes’ would have been a more memorable album, but as it stands it sadly isn’t. Instead of being a bombastic love letter left in Avant-pop’s school locker, it ended up in avant-garde’s locker instead and the feelings were not reciprocated.

(God Is In The TV)

Accordingly, this is an eclectic suite that veers from the weird funk strut of ‘Dominance’ to breezy techno (‘Let Go’) and soft, ’80s-inflected synthpop (‘Submission’) without missing a beat. McDermott has set himself few parameters here, meaning that there’s room for the instrumental ‘Wranglestrasse’ – piano, brass, strings, little else – alongside a spoken-word piece (‘The Distance of Time Between Us’) and broken balladry (‘The Most Beautiful Boy’).

(Loud And Quiet)