Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By Warpaint, Heirlooms/Virgin Australia 2022.
Radiate Like This is the first I’ve heard from American female rock group Warpaint.
They have been around since 2004 but their recorded output has been sparse having released only three albums prior to this one.
Formed in Los Angeles on Valentine’s Day 2004 they released their first album, The Fool, in 2010 and followed that with their self-titled Warpaint album in 2014, and Heads Up in 2016.
The band’s three albums were well received with NME givingThe Fool a glowing review and the more experimental second album, Warpaint, gaining a devoted following.
Between the release of Warpaint and third album Heads Up the individual band members engaged in solo projects and after the release of Heads Up, and the tours to promote it, they largely went into hibernation.
That hiatus was broken in January of this year when they released the lead single, Champion, from Radiate Like This.
During their extended break life took the band members in many different directions, babies, jobs, tours, solo albums, intercontinental and cross-country moves all meant that there were substantial logistical challenges to them reforming, but reform they did.
They had just started to lay down the foundations of the tracks for Radiate Like This when COVID hit which has resulted in this album process being substantially different to their earlier work which was usually composed through jamming in the studio.
Being physically separated each band member recorded her parts, often in make-shift home studios, before sending them on to the next person and thus songs were developed layer by layer.
The delay caused by the pandemic also allowed them to spend much more time honing the material so that they could get the best out of it.
The result is that they feel that this album is sharper and more focussed than earlier albums.
The lead single Champion is certainly a good song and the taste I received of the other songs suggest that the album, due for release in May, will be well worth the wait.
