Fabels is the name of a dream pop duo from Sydney, Australia, and their new album Minds takes little elements like the experimental dark wave of Dead Can Dance and the underwater reality of the Cocteau Twins, blends it all together and creates something radically different that pushes the boundaries of their influences. There’s a droning, hypnotic quality to their instrumentals as sections loop and gradually evolve, causing a dream-like sensation that radiates with growing intensity until it feels like it has embedded itself in the listener’s subconscious. Vocally, there seems to be something similar to Elizabeth Fraser going on, where the actual content of the lyrics matters less compared to the emotional impact and how it relates to the music.
Many of the songs cross the nine minute mark, but not a lot happens compared to the sudden twists and turns of prog rock. Instead, songs like “Shere Khan” and “Waiting” repeat at a steady pace, but it is this repetitiveness that acts like a mantra, gradually putting you into a trance. Even the more straightforward “Picollo” sounds like an approximation of pop music made by an alien planet and makes an artist like Bjork seem relatively tame. Truthfully, there is really nothing else out there like there so it is incredibly difficult to define, but Minds is subtly confrontational and rewards attentive listening as much as it demands it.
