A late contender for AOTY has arrived via Peakes’ epic new record ‘Peripheral Figures’. Sprawling and cinematic electronica is the name of the day across this stunning set of songs.
‘An Infinite Divide’ tells the story of a life lived through a phone and the problem of body imagery – “an imprint of our body is forever on display……the image we project is only half of what we say” sings frontwoman Molly Puckering. The track bubbles with danceable synths yet manages to hit home with its message very much in tact.
Lockdown life is dissected via a number of the songs such as ‘Day & Age’ – the life lived remotely is examined with lyrics like “in this day and age we never meet in person”. There’s an early 80s energy to this one and it conjurs up the image of Clare Grogan exuberantly bouncing around the stage fronting Altered Images on an episode of Top of the Pops.
The relationship between human and machine is explored on the skittering ‘Nameless Machines’ – an update on Kate Bush’s ‘ A Deeper Understanding’ on which she finds companionship with her computer.
Fans of Dubstar, Prinze George and Kyla La Grange will find much to enjoy. Max Shirley’s production and Peter Redshaw’s percussion are sparse and airy giving Molly lots of room to express and she matches Beach House’s Victoria Legrand on a level of, well, grandiose.
Teases and Dares 
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