Synthia in Bloomington, MN

The third full-length album from Australia's
the Jezabels
, 2016's
Synthia
, is a magnificently crafted synth pop outing with a strong feminist point of view. The album was born out of the group's difficult year promoting 2014's
The Brink
. While that album performed well, the band found the recording process labored and the subsequent tour a slog. Adding to their fatigue was keyboardist
Heather Shannon
's diagnosis of ovarian cancer (an ongoing concern that forced the band to cancel its tour plans in support of
). Consequently,
took a six-month break before recording
, a period that found lead singer
Hayley Mary
exploring her more hedonistic inclinations in California and entertaining the notion of not even making another album. She also embarked on a formative road trip from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, a voyage of self-discovery referenced explicitly on the wickedly hypnotic "Pleasure Drive," in which she coos "I got a 66 baby and I'm born to rock/I got a one-track mind just to get me off."
Mary
carries this earthy, empowered sexuality throughout all of
, honing in on the gender politics of being a woman in a traditionally male-dominated rock world. On "Smile," she sings "I'm hardly incorruptible with things I might say yes to/Bit of banter's quite enough/Don't need to be an intellectual." Of course, she's just got one rule: "Don't tell me to smile." This sophisticated, nuanced perspective is matched by the group's move toward a more atmospheric and dramatic synth-based sound. Cuts like "A Message from My Mothers Passed," "Unnatural," and "If Ya Want Me" showcase
Shannon
's icy, shimmering keyboard soundscapes buoyed by the driving undercurrent of
Nik Kaloper
's drumming and
Samuel Lockwood
's kinetic guitars. With
's soaring vocals on top,
brings to mind a tantalizing combination of
The Sensual World
-era
Kate Bush
and
the Cardigans
'
Gran Turismo
. An album of hard-won maturity and sensual elegance,
can be somewhat of a slow burn. However, when the pop fire reaches its peak, as it does often on
, the payoff is intense. ~ Matt Collar