Wild at art

By Hazel Sheffield

Wild Beasts are a British band who take their name, and their cue, from the French expressionist painters the Fauves—rendering their songs in lurid hues. On their debut album in 2008, Hayden Thorpe's quivering counter-tenor told boorish tales of huffing and puffing on mattresses, the biting of fruit and manly bulges, in the soft accent of his native Kendal. Over the next two albums, their perverse poetry won friends even as its peculiarities faded into prettier songs that tackled more universal themes of nostalgia and romance. With "Present Tense", Wild Beasts return to their essence. Songs are pared down to strict rhythms and bold synths, and words wielded like blunt instruments. The music is simple, almost pop, but it makes political points—ranging from the class system to the commoditisation of art—and also dwells on intimacy and loss. "All we want is to know the vivid moment," Thorpe sings, like an artist squeezing paint straight from the tube. ~ Hazel Sheffield

Present Tense, Domino, Feb 24th. Wild Beasts on tour (America, Britain, Europe), Feb 18th to Apr 15th