Elaine Malone is nothing if not prolific.
Whether it be the improvised folk horror of Mantua, Land Crabs’ punk noise, the Krautrock stylings of Soft Focus or the experimental sounds of Lisbon-based Pot Pot, Malone keeps herself busy in an outrageously diverse number of music projects with her multi-instrumental gifts.
This vast and varied output over the years proves to have been ideal preparation for a full-length debut, as Malone executes a dazzling array of sounds on Pyrrhic that encompass plenty of the genres she has explored previously and an abundance of fresh ideas too.
In the space between the Land EP in 2018 and this more expansive LP, Malone signed last year with the prodigious Pizza Pizza Records, a name that is becoming increasingly more associated with outstanding Irish talent (housing names such as Just Mustard, Clara Tracey and Trick Mist currently), and Pyrrhic confirms that Malone is no exception to this fine group of artists as she delivers one of the most thematically mature and sonically rich debuts of 2023 to date.
The record takes its name from the concept of a pyrrhic victory – one which is won at too great a cost – and as such, these nine tracks ponder notions of sacrifice and suffering buried underneath a veritable wall of guitars that combine elements of shoegaze (‘Moontread’), grunge (‘The Hunger’) and ambient/post-rock (‘Sin Eater’).
It’s a heady brew in the best sense, with Malone’s abstract lyricism, faraway vocals and hard-hitting instrumentals combining to create a dark, dreamy atmosphere that feels both intimate and expansive in equal measure.
By the end of this dynamic half-hour and change, Malone’s victory is anything but pyrrhic in nature – this is the sound of an intoxicating new voice in Irish music. Andrew Lambert
Pyrrhic is released via Pizza Pizza Records on Friday, 8th September
