Archives Vanishing Twins 6th studio album, and their second as just the core trio of singer Cathy Lucas, bassist Susumi Mukai (aka Zongamin) and drummer Valentina Magaletti. That’s all quite the understatement though. They’ve got several live releases and EPs as long and as good as their studio records, and all three members are talented multi-instrumentalists- something that’s especially explored on this album. Archives is the first record recorded out of the studio, separately across time and space and then assembled together. For conventional bands the end of live in room recording is often the end of putting in effort. For experimental and psychedelic groups like this some of their best work is made as a collage of recordings and improvisations, and this is indeed one of Vanishing Twins best works.

On Archives the always hard-to-categorize group fully divests from the (complementary!) comparisons to Stereolab, Broadcast, High Llamas and the like. It’s still psychedelic as all hell and still very catchy without being predictable. However the production and pallet of sounds and arrangements have moved beyond psychedelic, chamber pop aesthetics and are more in line with the cutting edge modern experimental music that more resembles the band members individual work. It feels less jammy and more composed, it feels maybe a little less colorful but with a lot higher contrast. Everyone’s very thoughtful playing has more room to breathe and come through clearly than on previous VT records without losing any cohesiveness. In fact the sharpness and separation of each instrument highlights how tightly they come together. If their previous work  felt like viewing an old masters floor to ceiling oil panting, this feels more like walking around an engineered architectural marvel.

I really enjoy the direction the group has gone over the years. To me, their discography is timeless and has consistently defied categories. I like the way Archives is a little more modern than what they’ve done previously and though it fits in with contemporary UK experimental music a little more cleanly, Vanishing Twin is a band that’s perhaps more singular than ever.