Makaras Pen – s/t (Projekt)

Maybe I’m off my nut here, but it seems to me that one aspect of shoegaze music that’s never been fully explored in its 25-odd year history is its potential as makeout music. I’m reminded of this as I listen to the self-titled debut by MAKARAS PEN, a new act which evolved out of the one-and-done dreampop outfit TEARWAVE. Take “Tightrope,” the epic constituting the album’s midpoint, for good example. Clean, reverbed guitar lines move slowly across a thick carpet of fuzz, while EMMA WILLIS coos deep in your eardrum; the music flows in a deceptively lazy manner, building up organically to a roaring climax. It’s the aural equivalent of running your fingertips over your lover’s bare hip, brushing your lips on the nape of his/her neck, caresses becoming more firm as you struggle to contain the urgency, until both of you explode into a single mass of undulating intensity. Mind you, the lyrics to “Tightrope” and most of the other tunes wallow in romantic misery and self-loathing, but the pure sensual noise created by Willis and the guitars drowns out the darkness in a swirl of tension and release. The exception is “Spent With You,” a loving tribute to the afterglow settled in acoustic guitars and the title’s double entendre. Shoegaze has always had a reputation for gloom, but Makaras Pen sounds more like the soundtrack to your next erotic evening.

http://MakarasPen.com
http://projekt.com