“A new destination would be fine,” Geannie Friedman croons toward the end of Recoil, the debut LP from her band Semihelix. The frontwoman spends most of the record’s half-hour in states of disenchantment: searching, longing, restlessness, alienation. Such emotional discontent makes for prime musical inspiration and, along with her team of dream poppers, she crafts an album at turns lush, sharp, rollicking, and lethargic.
On first listen, Recoil pairs Friedman’s turmoil with straightforward, upbeat pop. Her guitar glistens with a Sonic Youth shimmer on the title track and on lead single “New Destination,” while snappy rhythms from bassist Kevin Martin and drummer Valdemar Barrera propel the bustling “Translucent.” The duo especially shine in sprightly penultimate track “Wear It Out,” where an extended riff of drum rolls and buzzing bass take flight.
When the band slows down, however, melancholia proves just as enticing. Soft, arpeggiated guitar opens “Only Bluff,” a love letter to a boy with a thorn in his side. Closer “Their Design” drops the drums almost entirely for a dynamic ballad that fades out as quickly as it begins. And at two minutes, the dejected “Come Around” makes loneliness palatable: When an abrupt minor chord cuts the song short, you wonder where it went. To recoil is to flinch back, but with Semihelix, the music holds steady.
This article appears in November 5 • 2021.
