Album Review: Model/Actriz - Pirouette

Following up their strong debut with so much more, Model/Actriz only steps up with their sophomore output. ‘Pirouette’ unleashes so much of the band’s dynamic range, providing more nuance and variation that overall amplifies the queer softness and tension being explored.

There is something that tends to be brushed aside when it comes to coming out of the closet and showing one’s own queerness, where it is so much an internal revelation, but also a process that requires a lot of personal introspection and the reflection of what it is that needs to be unlearned and what it is that needs to be embraced. It’s a tangled experience that gay people especially have to go through so much, especially as they have to eventually realize that there is a limit on how much their desires can reveal of their genuine selves, one where reckless and aggressive sexuality can be its own pleasure yet its own destruction, like an adrenaline rush that can give so much before the satisfaction dissipates gradually. All of this is something that Model/Actriz understands clearly, something that ‘Pirouette’ explores in one big picture.

Within this sophomore record, Model/Actriz continues to fuel into no-wave and dance-punk soundscapes that they have embraced thoroughly back in ‘Dogsbody’, yet their approach to exploring this formula has been shifted within ‘Pirouette’. For one, Cole Haden’s vocals now lean more on solemn singing and spoken word vamping, a swerve that gives so much of these melodies a lot of distinctly sticky touches while never taking away the theatrical attitude that Cole portrays with tension and grace. It’s the kind of vocal delivery that works incredibly well with the production and the compositions, with more consideration on how the atmosphere and grooves on these songs are both rumbling and cleansing, allowing the emotional poetry as well as the flair of the album to just burst alight. The stuttering grooves that is paired with Cole’s cooing vocals on ‘Vespers’, the dance-punk vamping that leads to the infectious staccato hook on ‘Cinderella’, the overwhelming blasts of noise as Cole gives a bolting performance on ‘Poppy’, the warmer acoustics that provides a needed tenderness on ‘Acid Rain’, the stable melodic direction that gives space for the cooing vocals to be emphasized on ‘Departures’, the heavenly crescendos that comes up on ‘Doves’ and its exhilarating melodies, and the waves of hazy organ keys that puts a brighter closure on ‘Baton’.

That consideration between the softer tones with the clawing noise is an intended mix that only complements so much of what the record is putting across in the writing. If the debut is putting more emphasis on that sweaty, heaving gay lust that underscores some somber musings, ‘Pirouette’ is an examination of the queerness that a lot of gay folks tend to hide inside and how the insights within the aspect of softness has its complex nature, one coaxed through the embrace of gothic, religious, and personal details. Peeling open just how the embrace of softness can be shamed by those who don’t exactly agree to it - especially to religious structures that will judge so much of gay people just for that - and how much having to act like a diva is a way to keep some sense of strength and ego in an otherwise hostile world.

All of it does get even deeper than that. On cuts like ‘Poppy’ and ‘Ring Road’, there is the acknowledgement of how much suffering that will follow the presence of tenderness within so much of queer spaces and their road to finding some sense of love and pleasure, temporary or long-lasting it may be. That does eventually pull through on ‘Audience’, where the context of ‘Poppy’ may as well be speaking for Cole Haden himself, putting himself out there as a musician where there may be those who will shame him and pull him down just for his queerness. Yet he knows that he still has to keep on going, the shame being thrown all be damned.

But despite the tangled web that is tied so much into coming out as a queer person, the overall writing of the record also recognizes the women that does understand that softness the most, and the empathy that they will provide to queer folks that tends to be more reluctant with who they are. That feminine presence is what allows gentleness to keep being embraced despite the internal shame, anguish, and ego that queer men may hold to themselves. Whether that be the friend that Cole first confessed his queerness to on ‘Headlights’, the tribute to his grandmother on ‘Acid Rain’ where there is an endearment being shown on how much she likes to listen to his voice, and the sister that will keep reminding Cole some forgotten memories on ‘Baton’, a heartfelt connection that only makes him feel so seen as a person. Somehow, finally let go of whatever shame and doubt he may have experienced in the past.

Despite being emotionally cutting and melodically gripping, the album does take a while for all of that to sink in. Parts of it are just the no-wave pummels that may have such coursing grooves and sticky melodies, but certain intentionally brutish mixing will be an overwhelming experience that can create a make-or-break situation. The other part is just the issue of pacing and how a few songs don’t stick the way that the rest of the record has, like the ending of ‘Diva’ that could’ve been sharper, and the brief moments of ‘Audience’ and ‘Ring Road’ that may be thematically substantial, but just their melodic construction ends up a bit static than it should be.

An elevation of their overall sound and so much more, ‘Pirouette’ is the sophomore follow-through that shows so much more dynamic nuance in terms of the band’s melodies, production, performances, and writing. Still stepping within the no-wave and dance-punk foundations that made them so compelling in the first place, but it’s now paired with nuanced writing that only overall complements the dynamic melodies on display. Graceful, stirring, and bold. This is a pirouette wondrously performed.

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Favorite Tracks: ‘Vespers’, ‘Cinderella’, ‘Poppy’, ‘Acid Rain’, ‘Departures’, ‘Doves’, ‘Baton’

Least Favorite Track: ‘Ring Road’