Happy Birthday
Merge, 2020
8/10
The recording moniker of Washington DC’s Eva Moolchan, as Sneaks she made me a fan pretty quick with 2019’s Highway Hypnosis, and on this effort the artist expands her melodic repertoire into even more unclassifiable textures that highlight her creative vision.
“Do You Want To Go Out Tonight” starts the listen with buzzing electro-pop where ambience and mood are certainly part of the stylish equation that banks on repetition, and the percussively strong “Faith” follows with strong vocal work in a dance friendly setting where synth stabs and plenty of rhythm are present.
Elsewhere, “Scorpio On Your Side” moves calmer with a dreamy quality entering the nearly R&B inflected grooves, while “Slightly Sophisticated” pokes and prods with post-punk ideas alongside some quirky cinematic nods in its busy climate.
Closer to the end, “Winter Weather” recruits talk/singing in the eccentric spoken word meets and hip-hip mashing, and “You’ve Got A Lot Of Issues” exits the listen with one of the best tracks, as hypnotic and dynamic musicianship work with relevant, important wordplay about today’s social/political issues.
Somewhere between post-punk, hip-hop and experimental pop, Happy Birthday might be the most adventurous outing yet for Sneaks, which, if you’ve been following along, says much as she’s rarely stayed in one place very long, always defies convention, and continually challenges the status quo.
Travels well with: French Vanilla- French Vanilla; Ritual Howls- Their Body