It’s been almost a decade since the lo-fi production, coaxing melodies and abrupt lyrical content of Nick Harte’s Shocking Pinks first graced the world, and the project keeps on evolving. Recording with his newly signed Brooklyn label, Stars & Letters Records, Christchurch’s own Harte dollops out the sub bass on his new 35-track triple-album Guilt Mirrors. Intertwining droning synths and vocally distorted lyrics lend a dark, grudging tone to this gigantic work. Shocking Pinks recently played a well-received set at Camp A Low Hum, mixing old and new material on the very damp forest stage.
This is Harte’s first album in seven years. He’s relocated to Wellington, but not before witnessing the 2011 earthquakes first-hand. The dark atmosphere and places Guilt Mirrors travels seem to echo the destruction and damage caused by the earthquake. These vast destructive emotions feel processed into his music.
The melodic wall of sound in ‘Not Gambling’, the lead single, lets percussion drive the song, and a feature is the catchy guitar riff almost reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Dreams’, if Fleetwood Mac was going through an angsty patch of insomnia. A little gem for me was the fifth track, ‘My Best Friend’. It’s over-distortion, driving bass and slurred lyrics almost reminded me of INXS, although if it was to be included on the soundtrack of a movie, it might have to be Pretty In Black, not Pink.