The girls from Warpaint have released their third studio album. After numerous plays, it is plausible to conclude this is their most dance-y release yet. Besides that, there is nothing else that could be pointed out as different or worthy on Heads Up, which is quite a disappointment having in mind that these girls were one of the most authentic musicians we have seen in the past decade.
The album is opened by Whiteout and By Your Side, with both songs managing to catch the listener’s attention. These tracks serve as a warm-up for the strongest dance number on the album titled New Song, a catchy, euphoric glam-disco-pop number. On the other hand, this song has the biggest potential to become boring once you kill it with repeat.
Emily Kokal’s and Therese Wayman’s vocals are in total harmony, and they have never created such a sonic equilibrium with the bass drum and typical Warpaint hip-hop beats. The fourth track The Stall is the last interesting song from the record, thanks to the jazzy piano and traces of funk. Dre is Warpaint’s trip-hop homage to the famous rapper and producer that suffers from the same problem as the whole second half of Heads Up. The listener is left wondering whether he is missing something. Sadly, this is it.
Even though the second half is diverse and dynamic, almost every song feels unfinished. In the album’s defense, Heads Up is the best when listened on the good speakers, because baseline and Stella Mozgawe’s drums are the albums best assets. The rest pretty much falls into a been there, done that category, which does not make it a bad release by default. The girls have used this record as the opportunity to perfect their style, which made them more confident.
From the standpoint of production, this is a very polished album. The lack of content is masked with the post-tricks. Do four girls from Los Angeles still have something to offer? You decide that. While you are thinking about it, let Heads Up infatuate you at least for a moment. It will succeed in that, no matter how much you resist it.
