Pinkshinyultrablast – Miserable Miracles
Pinkshinyultrablast's third long-player Miserable Miracles finds them continuing to pay unashamed homage to the 80s and 90s
St. Petersburg's uber-eclectic Pinkshinyultrablast's third long-player Miserable Miracles finds them continuing to pay unashamed homage to the 80s and 90s. Though, here they depart from the levelling distortion which has over-driven much of their earlier work, rather reimagining the programmed proclivities of those decades through a kaleidoscope of electro-bliss.
Opener Dance AM is an arpeggiated proto-pop masterpiece, with Triangles following similar suit; both layered with the shoegaze loveliness of Lyubov Soloveva’s vocal. This opening brace leads in to the mesmerising Find Your Saint, a sun-burst soundtrack to the greatest 80s film that's never been awash with loved-up, shimmering synths, glancing chimes and dizzying, heart-soaring melody. It's very possibly the finest thing that this ultra-talented outfit have ever committed to tape.
Following on, Eray’s opening haze burns out to reveal stark, staccato drums, an urgent, discordant Juno lead and almost Orbital-esque bassline, providing a fine touchpoint for Blue Hour and Earth and Elsewhere’s tech-purist soundscapes: think Aphex Twin’s Ambient Works II. They're a fine addition, though an indulgence amid an album of otherwise brilliance.
Things return to scintillating form for the closing trilogy, with Taleidoscope’s 8-bit disco providing a second album highlight, and closer Looming rediscovering the guitar-led garrulousness which has defined their discography to date. The latter is a fine revisit, though with Miserable Miracles proving to be such a halcyonic masterpiece, it’s impossible to imagine them taking us anywhere other than deeper in to this new-found dream.
Listen to: Find Your Saint, Taleidoscope, Dance AM