It’s not too often that we get a certified AOTY contender less than three weeks into the New Year, but that’s what we received back in January when The Murder Capital unleashed Gigi’s Recovery. The sophomore effort from the Irish post-punk band, who return to town this evening (March 30) with a sinister sonic seduction of The Sinclair in Cambridge, is a masterclass in harnessing the subtle tensions we carry as we go through the day pretending everything’s going to be alright (it won’t be).
From the visceral “Return My Head” to the slow crawl of 2022 standout “Ethel”, Gigi’s Recovery is a rewarding midnight mental burn of a record, where the empty spaces breathe deep and each sound crafts its own contemplative world. Deeper album cuts like “The Stars Will Leave Their Stage” and “The Lie Becomes The Self” offer a portal into the band’s mind’s eye, tumbling with a tightrope balance that comes closely to falling off into oblivion, but managing to remain on course despise the ongoing battle of hope vs. despair that surrounds every move. The 12 tracks combine for an enthralling and enchanting collection that would hold a bit of timelessness to it if it were not so reflective of the type of desired angst that fuels our society.
It should be quite the spectacle tonight in Cambridge. Get lost in Gigi’s Recovery via Spotify below, and revisit our full photo gallery of the last time The Murder Capital visited town, playing ONCE Somerville in March 2020 just before all hell broke loose. We should have seen it coming.
THE MURDER CAPITAL + PET FOX :: Thursday, March 30 at The Sinclair, 52 Church St. in Cambridge, MA :: 7:30 p.m., all ages, $20 :: Event page :: Advance tickets