Album Review: Collarbones - Die Young

Two lads. One from Sydney. One from Adelaide. The distance is perhaps a contributing factor in the spacey void that their music creates; a remote, isolated kind of feeling that surfs along with Marcus Whale's impossibly smooth vocal lines. A paradox ensues, however, as the beast that is Collarbones' sophomore album Die Young gets impossibly close, breathing down your neck and crawling under your skin. Job well done then, as the duo set out to explore the much-probed realm of teenage love and heartbreak. The slow-burning R&B of Die Young is immersing, broken up with beats that foray into various realms of EDM and hip hop; at times racing along at rave tempo, and giving reprieve from the dense swell of synth and vocal layers.

On the surface Die Young follows in the footsteps of first album Iconography, with it's chopped-up vocal samples and glitchy beats playing host to Whale's melodic crooning, which seems to reach in and create sense and order in the mess of layers. But dig a little deeper and the playful melodies are betrayed by the words, revealing the latest effort as somewhat darker in nature. “And I'm losing in love every day/And I don't know how to start feeling my way”, Whale sings on Losing, his often visceral lyrics slipping in seamlessly and hiding behind the shimmering synth lines.

Die Young is an intriguing collection of songs that rewards repeat listens; probably even moreso with the impending release of a companion short film about teen ghosts caught in limbo adding weight to the album.