- Since the pandemic, Andrew Angus of Liars has resided in Australia, in New South Wales where the new record, The Apple Drop, was made; his first in Australia since Liars’ inception in 2000. Ten albums deep in the career of any artist and you’d be hard pressed to find a fresh perspective. Yet that isn’t the case for Andrew Angus at all.

With the depth you’d expect from a musician this established, The Apple Drop is astonishing. It’s an art rock record that channels the gloom of the past year into an exhilarating fury. The artwork alone blairs this corrosive intensity; Andrew spelunks deep into the mountains of NSW seeking a muse out of the rural, natural world. Sekwar, the lead single, is a tense introduction to the record. Andrew’s voice is rough and isolated, as grotesque post-punk production crunches through the album. His voice and the chorus of backing vocals that emerge in the track’s second half hit the same nerve as Protomartyr’s invigorating Ultimate Success Today, except in place of the baroque is the demented: instruments that sound like drills threaten a cave-in around Andrew.

Though there’s a clear post-punk-to-grunge pipeline of late, Liars refrain from creating a monotonous mood here. Star Search is haunting yet versatile. A soundscape of rolling bass and shrill electronica drown out Andrew’s voice initially, but as his concerns press through, the atmosphere morphs into a vocal driven segue; for a record like this, it’s pretty unconventional.

Despite the isolation depicted in the record’s artwork and Have A Nice Life-esque tortured ambiance, The Apple Drop is a distinctly collaborative affair. Returning to Australia saw Andrew team up with avant-garde jazz drummer Laurence Pike and multi-instrumentalist Cameron Deyell, both of whom expand upon the creative vision for the Liars’ project. The collaborative heart of the record is most clear on the record’s bolder moments, like in My Pulse to Ponder, a nocturnal track that oozes suspense, blurring the line between the cool and dangerous; it’s the sort of song that decades ago could easily soundtrack Martin Sheen on the run in Badlands, as Andrew chants, “I’ll cut your throat!”

The Apple Drop by Liars is no double digits drop in quality, instead it’s a furious gulp of fresh air, from a pocket of freshness that he’s fought his way to, deep inside a catacomb. Angus and friends arise from the shadows, burning with new promise.

- Sean Tayler.