London art-rock outfit Modern Woman operate in that rare sweet spot where unsettling and enticing are basically the same thing, held together by frontwoman Sophie Harris, who delivers vocals with the kind of presence that makes you feel like youâve wandered into something you maybe werenât supposed to witness. Thereâs Kate Bush in the DNA, avant-garde tendencies, folk tradition, but Modern Woman have gone and folded post-punk into the whole thing, which works beautifully.
New single âJohnnyâs Dreamworldâ, the title track and opener to their forthcoming album, arrives with a serpentine bassline coiling beneath a jumpy âget in lineâ drum pattern, providing a rhythmic spine sturdy enough to hold the trackâs genuinely surreal energy together.
Harris moves through the track like sheâs working something out in real time, opening in a cool, almost detached spoken word before the temperature rises and something more primal takes over. Underneath, guitars clamour, strings spiral and, by the time it peaks, it feels genuinely earned.
Harris puts it well: âI spend a lot of time in my head and I like thinking of my mind and other peopleâs minds like a location sometimes, a dreamworld - I like that reading and particularly music can take you into spaces in those places you havenât explored beforeâ.
One of those bands you suspect youâre getting in on relatively early.
đ§ Watch the video for âJohnnyâs Dreamworldâ below