{"id":4568,"date":"2016-03-31T08:03:18","date_gmt":"2016-03-31T12:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/?p=4568"},"modified":"2016-04-11T13:17:53","modified_gmt":"2016-04-11T17:17:53","slug":"anna-meredith-varmints","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/anna-meredith-varmints\/","title":{"rendered":"Anna Meredith <br>Varmints"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/anna_meredith-varmints.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4569\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-4569\" src=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/anna_meredith-varmints.jpg\" alt=\"Anna Meredith, Varmints\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/anna_meredith-varmints.jpg 250w, https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/anna_meredith-varmints-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/a>With her debut pop record, Varmints (Moshi Moshi\/PIAS Recordings), classical composer Anna Meredith plays with ghosts to conjure the heartbeat of today. It\u2019s a thoughtful record that doesn\u2019t shy away from chaos or hide in theory, but uses its intellect to dissect the sense of wonder hiding behind loss.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout <i>Varmints<\/i>, Meredith plays with expectations. \u201cLast Rose\u201d builds up to a fist-pumping anthem, with razor-cut strings and a pulsing organ accented by subtle beats and tones that recall a marimba or balafon. Meredith delivers lines like, \u201cHer lovely companions are faded and gone&#8230; our friendships decay,\u201d in a confident voice that doesn\u2019t diminish the melancholy, but clearly sees the sadness in the rear view mirror. \u201cTaken,\u201d a highlight, has male and female voices playing with stasis on pitiless lyrics like, \u201cWhat seemed a good idea has fast become a waste of time.\u201d Harsh, distorted chords pop out of the darkness and surf over the deceptively placid surface. That blend of serrated distortion and bitten-off strings resurfaces on \u201cShill.\u201d Its skeptical sense of melody keeps the audience at arm\u2019s length and makes them want to lean in.<\/p>\n<p>Elsewhere, instrumental tracks like \u201cBlackfriars,\u201d with its tiny violin cell that snaps everything into focus as the rest of the lush strings fall away, and \u201cHoneyed Words,\u201d which plays with the intersection between a cello and a synth drone, tease the listener with the expectation of expansiveness but stop short. That quality of fraying off without a hold to grab is key to their mysterious nature, but it never feels like a trick.<\/p>\n<p>This beautifully jagged, mysterious record is hard to pin down in the best ways. <i>Varmints<\/i> is a perpetually evolving, unfolding series of snapshots, simultaneously showing the world in crisp relief and distorting it to draw the listener in to pay attention. Meredith\u2019s debut paints a picture of day-to-day losses and compromise without ever wallowing in them or diminishing the feelings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With her debut pop record, <i>Varmints<\/i>, classical composer Anna Meredith plays with ghosts to conjure the heartbeat of today. It\u2019s a thoughtful record that<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[34,1667,1668,1294],"class_list":["post-4568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-album-review","tag-anna-meredith","tag-moshi-moshi","tag-pias-recordings"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Anna Meredith Varmints - The Agit Reader<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/anna-meredith-varmints\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Anna Meredith Varmints - The Agit Reader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With her debut pop record, Varmints, classical composer Anna Meredith plays with ghosts to conjure the heartbeat of today. It\u2019s a thoughtful record that\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/anna-meredith-varmints\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Agit Reader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheAgitReader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-31T12:03:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-04-11T17:17:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/anna_meredith-varmints.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Richard Sanford\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@agitreader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@agitreader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Richard Sanford\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/anna-meredith-varmints\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/anna-meredith-varmints\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Richard Sanford\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#\/schema\/person\/fa918e065f4387468b0fc32ae7c10905\"},\"headline\":\"Anna Meredith Varmints\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-31T12:03:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-04-11T17:17:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/anna-meredith-varmints\/\"},\"wordCount\":328,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/anna-meredith-varmints\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/anna_meredith-varmints.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Album Review\",\"Anna Meredith\",\"Moshi Moshi\",\"PIAS Recordings\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Album Reviews\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/anna-meredith-varmints\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/anna-meredith-varmints\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/anna-meredith-varmints\/\",\"name\":\"Anna Meredith Varmints - 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