After waiting months for my signed copy of t.A.T.y.'s (aka t.A.T.u.) new album (Весёлые улыбки, trans: Happy Smiles) to arrive, I lost my patience and ordered it over iTunes. Unsurprisingly, everyone's favorite Russian pop duo has delivered nothing short of a masterpiece. I feel compelled to post a short review. I shall proceed track by track, providing English translations of lyrics when necessary.
"Интро" (Intro):
In a fashion similar to that of their most recent release Люди инвалиды, the album starts off with an instrumental intro. My only complaint with this track is that it is three minutes and nine seconds of my life without the mellifluous voices of Yulia Volkova and Lena Katina. It is a tease, building tension in anticipation of the second track.
"Белый плащик" (White Robe):
This is the first single off the track, which came out nearly an eternal year before the release of the album. You are probably familiar with the video for this tune, which is as provocative as it is beautiful as it is moving. The synths swoop in, bombarding the listener like a Soviet tank only to retreat from the force of Lena's vocals. Yulia's haunting voice dominates the mix of the chorus:
Bullet in the heart
Brain on the door
limb and wings
We’re putting on
This white robe
Soul to heaven
We put it in a box
We let it go
This is one of the album's strongest tracks and rewards repeated listening. The poignant lyrics were penned by a 16-year old fan named Maria Maksakova (Esa on the official t.A.T.y forum). Three of her poems comprise the lyrics.
"You and I":
This track also follows in the steps of the album's predecessor. Like "All about Us" it is sung in English. Devotees will recall that this song is of the same title as the t.A.T.y movie whose release date seems to always be pushed back another couple months. In both structure and melody it resembles "All about Us." It is not nearly as strong as "All about Us," though it is still a delightful ditty. I cannot wait for the movie. I'll drive 200 km/h in the wrong lane to see it, 5 times. Desperation sublimates from the bridge:
No truths to confirm
No lies to deny
Too hopeless to care
We're too scared to cry
"Снегопады" (Snowfalls):
I admit that I don't quite understand the lyrics to this song. But this would not bet the first time that I am faced with the fact that I am just not intelligent enough to appreciate the profundity of t.A.T.y.'s prose. For example, consider the following lines:
We appear together as stars
We're different
You're a blue star
I am bright red
This is a metaphor, I am sure, but a metaphor for what? Whatever it means, I love it. This tune starts out a bit house-y, but soon transforms, becoming dark albeit beat-driven and irresistibly danceable.
"220":
This is THE strongest track. My only complaint is that it is not long enough. '220', a reference to the voltage standard in Europe, begins with a cutting portomento analogue synth line. I could go my whole life listening to no other song. I also recommend viewing the video, which showcases t.A.T.y.'s skills-of-a-dancer.
Teach me to wait
And smile and say
I want everything returned
If this is love, to know at once
You don't understand the dream
If this is love, know that everything is used
Reflections of sunlight on the wall
After sunset I die
Death is twice as easy
It is as if this song were written for me alone.
"Марсианские глаза" (Martian Eyes)
I used to be scared of Martians in my more xenophobic days (as a child, before I learned about relativity theory and the vastness of the universe, I was deathly afraid of an extraterrestrial alien invasion), but not anymore. Indeed, they must have incomprehensibly enchanting eyes to inspire this ballad.
Alright go
I abolish you
I'm alone again
Obviously, I'm painful
And can't sleep again
Count the bunnies
Search the squirrel
I want to stay silent
The listener finds himself suppressing the urge to weep in the face of "Martian Eyes," a moving and, dare I say, magical piece. Clocking in at three minutes and ten seconds, it is the perfect dose of melancholy. Just enough to make you appreciate how happy "220" made you.
Человечки (Little People):
The vocal harmonies on this track are cool as hell, and the arrangement is, if anything, symphonic in its sophistication. We get more of the killer portomento analogue synth that we loved so much in "220." "Человечки" paints a picture of a foggy early morning in a pristine meadow. You're being chased by vampires hungry to taste your blood before the sun peeks over the distance. Or may be you are the vampire, famished, desperate for just one drop of blood. Willing to dare the sun to exist.
"Весёлые улыбки" (Happy Smiles):
The title track is probably the darkest sounding on the album, ironically. Throaty synths and highly reverbed drums construct a lush, eerie, and purple landscape. This short track is instrumental, but alone worth the price of the album.
"Running Blind":
The English tracks on t.A.T.y. albums are rarely as great as the Russian ones. This is one of those rare cases. Something important is about to happen. I don't know what it is, but it is damn important. This is what this song tells me. I'll wait t.A.T.y., I'll wait for you to show me.
Are you near me?
Are you only in my mind?
This song is so good it makes me sick.
"Fly on the Wall"
This song starts of incredibly layered, but softens up for Julia:
When you're naked in the shower
When you're sleeping for an hour
When you're big
When you're small
Oh, I wish I was a fly on the wall.
The chorus revisits the rich, orchestrated synths, which I happen to have a soft spot for, admittedly; however, the melody of the vocal part sounds a bit too predicable for my taste. The lyrical content is unassailable, but melodically it is a bit too close to what you might hear at a strip club.
"Время Луны" (Time of the Moon):
Back to their native tongue, this song opens with a tribal beat that is soon crushed by overdriven guitars and Yulia chanting in a hypnotic, monotone voice:
Start all over
Don't look up to the glass
Don't brake it
They shine contacts and bobbins
We put out their uselessness
Fire and wind
Too late
In order to stop us
Start all over
We take off
And don't dash already
The girls are pissed, and you better listen. Anger makes way for a melodic bridge sung by everyone's favorite Russian redhead, Lena Katina. But Yulia is still pissed and answers with the brutal chorus.
"Не жалей" (Don't Regret):
Atmospheric and downbeat, "Не жалей" is dangerously close to sounding new age (think: Enya), but the double-time vocals and ensuing addition of rock drums save this song from failure. Personally I could do without the acoustic guitar and piano, but it isn't bad. I would have liked to have seen the album end on more of a high note, especially given what triumph the album is as a whole. It is the duo's first release on their own label and they ought to be proud of the gift they've given us.
With t.A.T.y. we learn, with t.A.T.y. we love. No matter how deep the waters in which they lead us, we know that we aren't alone. Yulia and Lena are there to guide us through the dark seas they, themselves, have created for us. Each song is an opportunity for reflection. You look into this ocean only to see yourself as you've never seen before, but illumated by t.A.T.y.'s Happy Smiles.
