Pikelet has long been the vehicle for multi-instrumentalist, Evelyn Morris, to release her largely electronic, off kilter tunes. For the third Pikelet album, Calluses, numbers in the band appeared to have swelled to turn this one woman juggernaut into a four-piece band.
Previous Pikelet albums have had a homespun feel to them, but Calluses is far more compact and crisp in its approach. Electric Gate has a guitar presence that is unfamiliar territory for Pikelet as well as a chorus of voices that adds a hint of the classic girl groups, yet is skewed enough to keep the listener guessing.
Accomplished layers of sounds, instruments and a more haunting nature to her vocals ensure there is something about this new chapter of Pikelet that makes Morris come across as a more confident and experimental version of Lisa Mitchell. Things become more obtuse as Calluses progresses, but it is Fleeting that pulls things back somewhat to show of the impeccable Morris pop smarts.
Calluses is a worldly album that turns much of what Pikelet has done before on its head. Under the intricate barrage of sounds are some less than chipper themes that add even more depth to this dense beast.
CHRIS HAVERCROFT
