Words by Joanna Long
Eleven tracks of an emotional wrecking ball that moves through love, heartache, recovery and revenge, sometimes even within the same song, coming out the other side, leaving you slightly breathless and very grateful.
Man Woman Chainsaw‘s debut album ‘Cannonball’ earns its place in your life quickly; raw, honest, layered, and deeply, uncomfortably recognisable. The combination of synths and strings throughout gives the whole thing a cinematic quality that consistently elevates what are already clever, emotionally direct songs. Most people listening to this will have loved, lost and may still be quietly reeling from something, and Man Woman Chainsaw seem to know that, and write directly for that person, intentionally or not.
‘Only Girl’ opens proceedings with violin doing the work of a vocal before the drums and guitars join in, and there’s a real Wolf Alice weight as things build. The lead vocals are delicate and perfectly balanced against a fuzzy guitar, buoyant and energetic in one breath, heavier in the next. It’s the kind of opening that makes you think, yes, this is going to be worth the next forty-odd minutes.
‘Canyons’ follows with a more experimental edge; English Teacher comes to mind in the way instrumentation and mood are merged so deliberately, and there’s a controlled chaos to it that pulls you to the edge before letting you breathe. String plucking over fuzzy guitar, the sense of helping tipping into resentment, with an unexpected but not out of place abrupt close.
‘Cool Down, Lizard Man!’ is where this album gets genuinely interesting. An experimental opening, gritty male vocals, layers of dark comedy, and a vocal delivery so perfectly suited to its subject that when the lyrics mention a smile you can actually hear the ‘lizard’ in it. Nick Cave and Tom Waits vocal territory, gothic desperation, textured soundscapes; it certainly makes you wonder who or what inspired it, and that curiosity is a certain mark of great songwriting.
‘Lighter’ is a welcome exhale. Piano and vocal, jazz-style drums, with almost a swing to it, and about love rather than the wreckage of it; “The time you give me is my favourite treat.” The vocal qualities of the band shine here, and the contrast with everything around it is handled perfectly.
‘Nosedive’ takes an unexpected electro turn; drum beat, hum of synth, distorted guitar echo , and, despite its message being anything but joyful, it absolutely makes you want to dance in the rain. Emmie-Mae Avery on vocals, a mid-section build that layers voices and instruments alongside the complexity of the melody is something genuinely exciting. The ‘zipped’ ending delivers a satisfying close.
‘Get Up and Dance’, the fourth single and the one that features Emmie-Mae, opens with whistling over low-fi vinyl crackle, a pause, a breath, almost cinematic before the heavy bass drum and guitar kick in. There’s something Celtic in here, and also almost flamenco. The violin break is all desperation and passionate anger; London Grammar in inflection. How to describe it in one word? Tantalising.
‘Snakebite’ brings a soulful violin opening with echoing synth underneath, emotional vocals over considered musicality. “Do you still carry it?” The want and the hope of love unreturned, sitting in the same breath. ‘Flick of the Wrist’ shifts again, a dark, theatrical salsa quality that makes you picture dancers circling each other, waiting for the first move. “A second is all it took to pull back the lid, on what isn’t what is.” This is storytelling through movement as much as lyrics, with spiccato and legato strings mixing in a way that gives the whole track a real physical presence.
‘The Thing’ is defence, realisation and fury wrapped up in gravelly vocals and heavy riffs, almost aggressive in places, the guitars getting the last word in what feels like a conversation that has been going around in circles for too long. And then arrives ‘Still Angry’; lighter in its opening, but a whole lot darker in everything underneath it. “I’m still fucking angry.” I mean, if that doesn’t say it, then… Scars that haven’t healed, hidden hurt that hasn’t gone anywhere, echoed in a soulful string break and then straight back into the rawness of it.
‘Something Else to Give’ closes the album with a more funky bassline, staccato strings and vocals that are full and gentle, dramatic pauses that give the words plenty of space. There’s an underlying drone that sits in contrast to those vocals in a way that’s quietly unsettling and also brilliant.
Man Womand Chainsaw and their album ‘Cannonball ‘ are on the watch list for good reason. Some of the tracks here have clear radio potential, but it’s the album as a whole, and the emotional roller-coaster of its sequencing, that makes this something well worth your full attention. Man Woman Chainsaw are touring the UK and Ireland in September and October, and ‘Cannonball’ is out now on Fiction Records, on all streaming platforms, with its fourth track release, ‘Get Up and Dance’ featuring Emmie-Mae Avery, also available now.
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