ex.girls (formerly russian.girls) were our number one must-see act going into Iceland Airwaves 2023, and they did not disappoint. Their set at the IA Center on the festival’s final night sizzled with restrained energy, Tatjana Dis’ intense gaze and crackling delivery creating a sense of barely-controlled emotion. I wondered how this would translate to their soon-to-be-released album Verk. Could they capture the emotional feel of the live set?
The restraint is certainly there on Verk, the mood chilled to razor-sharp precision. Tracks like “90 Oktan” are crystalline with their clean, icy synth chords and precise, methodical male vocals exuding control and intentionality. Even the beats on tracks like “Bensín” feel like frozen boulders cracking in the overnight cold, the sound carrying across the rocky landscape in the still night air.
When Tatjana makes her first vocal appearance on the album’s fourth track, “Vont er það venst,” we start to feel the simmering heat of ex.girls’ live performance, the beats warmer and chords taking on an 80s soundtrack quality. The same holds true on my favorite song on Verk, “Hundrað í hæ ttunni,” Tatjana’s stilted cadence offset by xylophone-like synths and later undercut by low, distorted male vocals. Her timbre becomes the central point around which these tracks orbit, as if her sheer force of will is calling forth the music orbiting her.
Verk begs for you to listen with headphones, the depth and subtlety of the production requiring your full aural focus in order to receive the maximum sonic effect. I’d played it at least a half dozen times on the stereo before finally donning my headphones, and I was overwhelmed by density and precision of the compositions. The album has an overall dance sensibility while refusing to deliver a straight club track, only coming close on the soulful “Manneskja” and the beat-driven “Inner Ytri”. But that’s not the point. That’s not what ex.girls is about. They’re about exploration through sound.
Verk was released by bbbbbb recors (and yes, I wrote that correctly) earlier this month. There is a vinyl release, though my review was based on a digital copy I received as part of my pre-order – so I can’t tell you much specifically about the record, other than it’s available on Bandcamp at very reasonable £15, so get it while you can.