Deadstar – Baby Teeth (2017)

There are some album covers that seem to perfectly visually encompass the vibe of their record: Loveless, maybe, by My Bloody Valentine, its strummed guitar obscured by an obtrusive pink haze, or Geogaddi by Boards of Canada; its strangely unsettling art beset with very slightly off-kilter patterns and subtle symbolism, hinting of things to come.

The cover, Bangalore based composer, Deadstar selected for Baby Teeth, his ode to youth, does just that; Much like the album, something very natural and raw is being warped, though not so much as to distort but to enhance what is already there.

In prelude track ‘Sea Born’ an innocent, almost magical, acoustic guitar line is heavily mangled with effects, then swallowed whole by a “mystical faery of shimmery pads”, before being spat straight back out in a ball of angular shoegaze.

‘All your worries’ takes this concept, adding rigid drumming, which effectively anchors down Deadstar’s forests of atmosphere, only to bloom forth into a wonderfully pleasing passage that wouldn’t seem out of place in Mario Kart, perpetually exploding with the unconditional happiness of childhood.

‘The Galactic Gardener’, introducing some electronic ideas, maintains the magic; ideas reminiscent of some of Aphex Twin’s more reflective moments weave themselves around Delta Sleep-esque guitar lines, eventually building up to a noisy zenith not unakin to something ALMA might write.

Elsewhere, vignette ‘Knee Hugger’ emphasises Deadstar’s supreme attention to detail, ‘Jupiter Girls’ kicks you in the face with the simple yet unadultered energy of a toddler, all before unleashing namesake Baby Teeth a triumphant noise-fest sounding how I’d imagine a Slowdive-Disney soundtrack might.

Deadstar is unique; nothing sounds particularly like him and I don’t think anything ever will, and Baby Teeth stands testament to that; a uniquely eclectic opus that dares to be weird and to push envelopes further and further into the woods….

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