Methyl Ethel return with their finest work yet

Methyl Ethel is the product of Australian frontman and bedroom-creator Jake Webb, who introduced bandmates Thom Stewart on bass and sound engineer Chris Wright to play on drums so as to take the music out of the house and onto a live stage. The result is three albums of success and their third Triage, a musical landscape that though abstracted is ultimately about humans and their own personal narratives.

“Ruiner” opens the album with a fizzy synth-pad that immediately moves with driving percussion likened reminiscent of Aussies Tame Impala - although this is not a continued comparison throughout the album. Webb’s voice is layered across tracks like “Scream Whole” with a voice that though piercing seems soft and illustrative with it’s delivery as a delicate yet warming tone.

Calling out to the heavens is how “All The Elements” sings through as Webb exclaims “there’s something in my head but I can’t get it out” to the listener. Though it is truly tracks like “Real Tight” released as one of the singles leading up to the album, that gives us the recognisable but inimitable sound of Methyl Ethel. Webb revealed how one of the biggest influences for this record was British rock band The Cure from which he had never expected to take influence from and took place as a guilty pleasure.

Returning to a bedroom-production for Triage, and therefore back to the territory of 2015 release Oh Human Spectacle, the new record retreads familiar ground without feeling repetitive. Triage is a spectrum of colour and abstract character, stained with a unique personality. Thanks to this approach, Triage is the finest work from Methyl Ethel yet.

In Webb's own words: "This year, I found myself in the same city, alone in a room tasked with writing an album to be heard, not as an outlet for personal grievances. I decided to find closure with Triage. The question this time around is ‘what is important? What requires attention?’ I think It’s about living with secrets. Secrets cause the problems. They call them white lies, little things used to manipulate people for the greater good. It’s a triage of truths to maintain an artifice."