The latest release on St Louis label It Takes Time Records, algae dust // hennen is a self-titled split from two solo projects born out of pandemic isolation. algae dust is the moniker of Alison Setili (who you may know as the bassist in Frankie Valet), while hennen is the project of Hannah Rainey of Shady Bug and Dubb Nubb, who we spoke to a little while back about Lemon Lime, the latest Shady Bug album on Exploding in Sound Records. Setili and Rainey provide seven songs each, forming a two cassette double album that represents the debut solo release by each.
Setili started the algae dust project as an exercise in improving her guitar playing and teaching herself to mix, working instinctively to build on ambiguous ideas that explore themes of “nostalgia, cyclical thought, and the importance of perspective.” Starting slow and subdued, ‘circular’ is a good introduction. “Well I’ve been walking circles in my mind,” Setili begins over gentle bedroom pop guitar. But it’s not long before the song sparks into something bigger, fellow Frankie Valet member Gram Tolish providing drums as the song crashes into life in its final third, transforming into something with considerable force.
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This duality becomes a theme across the algae dust half of the album. Tracks that start soft and intimate find stormy peaks or refuse to settle into recognizable patterns, peaceful blue skies of songs like the patient instrumental ‘by the window’ sit next to grey rainclouds and agitated squalls of emotion, like ‘grasp’ with its constant percussion and whirring organ-like keys.
The hennen side sees Rainey work through feelings of heartbreak, isolation and self-sabotage using an iPhone and her distinctive brand of twee-tinged garage rock. It takes the Shady Bug formula (catchy hooks and knotted, unpredictable melodies) and strips things back, losing some of the sheer power of the full-band crescendo but gaining an intangible sense of the personal. There is perhaps more of a pop influence, which comes to the fore on tracks like closer ‘bothered’, sounding remarkably slick and streamlined with its electronics and yearning vocals.
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There’s a definite sense these songs give Rainey space to experiment, allow her to venture into areas that perhaps wouldn’t fit Shady Bug. Tracks like ‘lizard’ shift between woozy bedroom pop and contemporary r&b, while ‘auto-pilot’ smothers strong vocal melodies in wobbly, underwater distortion. But that’s not to say there’s not a healthy dose of indie rock grit on display. ‘the hardest’ has a propulsive energy and satisfying rumble in its bones, while ‘zero expectations’ juxtaposes gentle vocals with blown-out distorted guitar. All in all it’s a consistently surprising and cohesive split, and one which feels right at home on the It Takes Time discography.
algae dust // hennen is out now and you can get it on cassette or download from the It Takes Time Records Bandcamp page.
