Everybody’s favourite LA noise-terror quartet are back! And this time they’ve made something your mum might like. That may sound like I’m damning Health with faint praise, but I’m assuming that your mum likes New Order and Depeche Mode as much as mine. I’ve got a cool mum, maybe you do too. On a semi-related tangent, what do you think Health’s mums are like? Let’s take a look at a picture of the band and see if we can guess…
I would imagine disappointed that their sons can’t take a nice picture without looking so glum. I don’t think we have much more to go on then that. Apart from maybe the knowledge that thanks to a six year gap between albums the members of Health probably spent a LOT of time at home and massively outstayed their welcomes. I’m sure their mums are as relieved to see the release of Death Magic as we are.
So how have the six years since Get Color [2009] altered their sound? Well Health are certainly more approachable, slightly less mumbly and upwards of two out of four of them have now washed their hair. But that doesn’t mean they’re any less interesting, you can just stand comfortably next to them in a lift now. Just be prepared to hear some vague references about the apocalypse and the pointlessness of existence before you get off on the fourth floor.
Where once Jake Duzsik’s vocal were once lost in a swirl of eviscerating noise and punishing drums, now they sit far higher in the mix. His surprisingly soft, almost Neil Tennant-like delivery is plainly heard above the newly dialled-down audio punishment. This gives Health a deeper emotional range, making them sound like a group of damaged romantics, which is not something we had assumed about them before. Unfortunately this brings much closer attention to Duzsik’s lyrics. Previously on tracks like ‘Die Slow’ you could only vaguely make out the dreamy incantations (“She sees in red and black”? “She sleeps in red underwear”? Nope, no idea), which made them seem all the more enigmatic. On Death Magic the limitations of Duzsik’s themes and phrases are clear. You’ll hear a lot of variations on the same sullen line: “we die, so what” or “we die and we don’t know why” or “we love each other, but we’ll die, so what’s the point of even going to Frankie and Benny’s for tea tonight.”
That being said, this is still the most upbeat album of Health’s career. In fact if you’ve been following the band closely (easy creepo, they know you’re watching) you’ll know that after each album, Health release a disco version of the original, featuring assorted remixes that bring their hidden danciness to the fore. For Death Magic though it’s difficult to ascertain what else a remixer can bring to these tracks, such is Health’s obvious new-found desire to have you grind up to sweaty strangers in the weirdest nightclub you’ve ever been in.
‘Flesh World (UK)’ and ‘Stonefist’ are full of filthy house touches, skittering beats and gently euphoric synths. ‘Dark Enough’ is a gyrating animal, full of echo that could easily fill the space of an illegal warehouse rave. ‘LA Looks’ is possibly the prettiest thing Health have ever created, owing more to Passion Pit’s brand of snappy electro-pop than the terrifying noise-core of old.
Certainly ‘New Coke’ most closely resembles the Health from half a decade ago, featuring as it does a deeply nihilistic welcoming of oblivion (“let the bombs explode, let the lights go dark… life is good”) with layers of thundering bass, furiously sustained attacks of noise and exquisitely tempered percussion. Although the effect of this may lead you to realise how much you miss Benjamin Jared Miller’s drumming. Apart from the burst of fury that opens ‘Courtship II’, there’s a definite reliance on gentler electronic beats, that move the feet rather than cracking open your ribcage and pummelling your heart into cardiac arrhythmia.
Your enjoyment of Death Magic will depend on why you got into Health in the first place. Was it because of their ear-punishing audio assaults, or was it because you knew their love of earnest synths and pulsating, sleazy rhythms would make them one of the most surprising pop bands of the 21st century? Or perhaps you’re one of their mums and you’re just glad to see them out of the house.
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