Xiu Xiu Is Dread

Xiu Xiu, Women As Lovers (Kill Rock Stars) six out of ten stars For some, there is an appeal in suffering and in dread. In pain and in anxiety, they feel most genuine and most alive. To be cheerful, to be pleasant, to be content would be to live a false life shrouded by dumb numbness. Some have called this an unasked for disease of over-consciousness, of being all too keenly aware of the pains intrinsic to living. And under this sort of clarity or distortion—whichever way you prefer to see it—is where Jamie Stewart writes and plays and sings his potently disturbing songs.“Who there is, who is not bored by this fate?” Stewart bemoans on the slurred yet urgent rush or desperate noise that is “In Lust You Can Hear The Axe Fall” from Xiu Xiu’s new album, Women As Lovers. “Who there is, who is not bored but this flaw?” Life is full of flaws and Stewart’s songs exist like permanent scars within them. Thread through the new album (which, yes, is a bit more accessible than those of the past) is a sort of grappling with everything that is wanted and everything this is wrong. “In why we live, there is only wrong … and I don’t care, I don’t care anymore,” Stewart coos on the surprisingly melodic (thanks to a guitar jingle) “F.T.W.” Religion, politics, incest and murder all make haunting appearances on Woman As Lovers, providing Stewart with just the right amount of fuel for his dark philosophies and grim proclamations such as, “A wretched life to sit through” and “born to suffer, born only to die.” This may sound too depressing to experience but in fact because of Stewart’s intensity and the unique arrangement of sounds that surround him, it is not. It is haunting and it is disturbing but it is living and it is breathing. Stewart visits places—often awkward and more often sexually so—most would rather not. He can’t help but delve into our deepest cuts and bring back the bloody pain of them. He can’t help but exist within all that is dark and twisted about living. And even if you don’t choose to view life through such a lens, it’s a trip to catch a glimpse, particularly when it is coming from someone so genuinely enthralled in grabbing around painstakingly in the dark. “Perseus holds the head of Medusa, oh what I would give to be her,” he cries softly on “The Leash”. Why? Is it to be free from the body? From mortality? Or maybe it is to hold the power to turn people to stone, to numb them against life’s suffering and dread? “Why are we like this? Cut at what’s already cut,” he bequeaths on “Gayle Lynn, his voice cracking with sadness, the horns squealing with anger and multi-instrumentalist Caralee McElroy cooing with hopeless in the distance. In song, Stewart struggles with what it means to live, to engage, to desire, to lose and to hurt. Inside fluttering horns, palpitating beats (this time provided by a human being, Ches Smith), dismal organ and disorganized, synthesized noise (among other intriguing sounds), Stewart can help but feel fraught with the disturbing unease life never fails to offer. And it’s this hyper-consciousness that gives Xiu Xiu’s songs the power to impact people—for better or worse, a powerful impact nonetheless. Such impact, such a capacity to move us in unexpected ways, is not easy to come by so if you don’t mind difficult listening, delve in. “The life that’s allotted to be yours’, a trifle!’” Stewart sings quietly under the weight of pain and dread. P.S. Almost forgot! There’s a mean cover of “Under Pressure” (Bowie/Queen) on the album; you’ll like it.