Death From Above 1979 – Is 4 Lovers review

Canadian duo Sebastien Grainger and Jesse F.Keeler have rarely been shy of addressing the physical aspects of human relationships in the past, but with both of them now fathers – Grainger’s wife was pregnant during the making of Is 4 Lovers – it seems that they now feel the time has come to address matters above the belt buckle.

On top of this the duo assembled these new songs remotely as well as producing themselves for the first time, this different way of working giving them a degree of artistic control supposedly absent on previous albums. It hasn’t dimmed their howl though, at least not completely; opener Modern Guy reprises the strip-paint-at-thirty-metres aesthetic we’re all familiar with, but on One + One – the sequel to 2004’s Romantic Nights, they say – lyrically, we’re going for a snuggle down on their sofa.

There’s still plenty of sideways commentary on what’s wrong with people – both blasts of NYC Power Elite parts 1 & 2 are directed at the super rich wasting class – whilst at it’s most visceral, the helter-skelter punk of Totally Wiped Out beats down on phone and porn obsessed slackers. Grainger and Keeler spend much of Is 4 Lovers remainder trying on new sounds and styles to varying degrees of success, but with more mouths to feed these days, who can blame them.

You can read the full review here.