Jane Weaver, now three decades in, hits her eighth album and first with Fire Records, Modern Kosmology. Eight albums is a rare accolade to be worn by musicians these days, particularly when they skirt on the periphery and obsess with the world of solitude, away from too much attention as Weaver does, nevertheless she has attained it. Weaver, who was previously part of the 90s group Kill Laura, has worked with the uncanniness of claustrophobia and solitude on this record and, to be frank, it’s easy to have thought that she may have been the character hidden within Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper. She somehow seems to find a comfort and charm within these disturbing worlds though and Modern Kosmology weaves them together and finds something magical within.

The current enthral of psychedelia often spews up what can be deemed as bland, nonchalant garbage – particularly with the new focus on krautrock. Artists often deal with the trend in a tasteless manner, causing nothing but whirring headaches through their fields of motorik kicks. However, Weaver turns to this and winds taste into it for the most part.

Through the likes of ‘Slow Motion’ she works delicate harmonies atop of the kick, bringing about a glittering charm to an often quite sinister sound. This same method is repeated throughout, working bubbling synthesisers on opener ‘H>A>K’ that consistently simmer rather than explode. The lack of climax brings about a hook that never quite reigns you in, likely to be frustrating for some but fascinating for others.

For the large majority (besides the Malcolm Mooney featuring ‘The Lightning Back’), Modern Kosmology is self-produced, self-performed and self-written. This often allows an easy trap for an obsessive artist to fall into – creating a blood-curdling, self-righteous work of ‘art’, judged purely by their own standards. Weaver, manages to consistently sidestep the gaping hole though. ‘Did You See Butterflies?’ works elegantly and melodically – slowing down the tempo and working slightly more on the off-beat – something that could possibly place it within Radiohead’s In Rainbows material. Looped guitar effects shift throughout the album, allowing for the occasional head-nodding lull. The album-titled track and the aptly titled ‘Loops In The Secret Society’ embody this sentiment whilst putting Weaver’s voice within the quirky worlds of Cate Le Bon and Jenny Hval. 

With all its positives, Modern Kosmology does occasionally bare its faults too. Occasionally shifting into the dark world of dirge psychedelia which doesn’t quite feel fitting in a universe of general calmness. It’s appreciated that what Weaver is perhaps aiming for on these tracks is to provide a dynamic to the overall sound, applying some sort of shift to allow for new ideas to bleed through but the likes of ‘Ravenspoint’ and ‘I Wish’ fail to captivate like the previous tracks did. Weaver’s voice, although maintaining its delicate articulation, feels slightly at sea, lost within the excess of sound.

This is not to undermine or reduce the album’s great achievements though as for the most part, Weaver proves that the follow-up to 2014’s The Silver Globe is a great success. The album’s standout track ‘The Architect’ operates within a lysergic sprawl of guitars and space-echoed synthesised sounds – it feels apt to work above the closing scenes to Kubrick’s Space Odyssey. Weaver’s distant vocals operate within the context she wrote and recorded the album – one of distance and isolation, but one that is bizarrely soothing at the same time. ‘The Lightning Back’ too, acts as a pertinent track on the album, feeling slightly more stripped back and naked than other songs. It operates within a lonely realm – one of heartbreak and desolation as Weaver sings: “I love the way that it’s just us again / I concentrate on being the same” – the thing is, you can’t help but feel slightly closer to Weaver for baring this honesty and love. 

Jane Weaver occupies a sound on Modern Kosmology that many modern bands aim for, but desperately and unfortunately miss, and that’s making the most of emotion and mood. Jane can outline emotion without ever feeling the need to enforce it: every song – even those that feel less fitting on the album – can describe, or omit some universal feeling. Weaver proves her experience and taste with Modern Kosmology, it’s not perfect but it certainly isn't far off.
Tom Churchill

Website: janeweavermusic.com
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