A celebration of human imperfections, Johanna Warren‘s sixth album (and second for Wax Nine), Lessons for Mutants, continues her cathartic journey of self-transformation.
Warren’s songwriting may have changed in 10 years, but it’s always been grounded in hard reality. Even her ethereal, lunar-cycle inspired musings on nümün (2015) were a reaction to mundane troubles. The diptych Gemini I (2016) and Gemini II (2018) was equal parts esoteric and confessional. More recently, Chaotic Good (2020), recorded across thirteen US studios, marked a further transition and brought with it a bolder, more diverse sound palette that allowed Warren to lean into the anger that had always been there, but muted by her ‘angelic’ sound.
So, what of Lessons for Mutants? Initially tracked around the same time as Chaotic Good, some of the songs share its fiery spirit. But it’s certainly not just more of the same. Instead, there is a refreshing sense of balance and clarity threaded throughout, something that perhaps comes from having to stay in one place and slow down. Many of the songs were first written during a period of recuperation at Warren’s aunt’s place in Florida, on the piano her father once played. Later, when everything stopped with the pandemic, Warren recently told Uncut Magazine she was faced with the choice, “up sticks from New York to Wales, to a place she had never been, to be with a person with whom she had spent all of two weeks. ‘Or move back in with my parents, and cry every day’.” She chose the former, living in a homestead surrounded by sheep, foraging (Warren is a qualified herbalist and healer), home-brewing and generally divorcing herself from the bustle and busyness of the past three years.
While Lessons for Mutants hangs together so beautifully, Warren doesn’t tie herself to any particular style or tempo which makes this album so listenable, time after time. Of the slower tracks, ‘Tooth For A Tooth’ purrs with warm analogue production, brushed drums, jazz club piano and glockenspiel. You can almost see the smoke rising from the stage into a deep purple velvet curtain. The piano on ‘Oaths’ sets an entirely different scene, a stormy seascape embroidered with swirling sea birds courtesy of (Kate’s nephew) Raven Bush and his violin. Warren’s double-tracked vocal is chilling, defiant “What oaths must we take to be absolved, rendered ready and awake?” as the salt spray rips the rocky shore. Next, ‘County Fair’ uses wildlife field recordings, chiming guitar and idiosyncratic rhythms to create a lush backdrop for Warren’s soothing close harmonies, reminiscent of Madeline Kenney or Mitski. With its tinkling clockwork-like patterns and swaying bassline, ‘Good is Gone’ is similarly pleasing for its little slips and imperfections. The story goes that the album was tracked live with a band direct to two-inch tape. “Tape forces you to commit to a performance, eccentricities and all. The little glitches and anomalies that we’re tempted to ‘correct’ are often what makes a thing magical.” There’s something authentically vulnerable about the production that harks back to another time, notably on the title track with its chorus-heavy double tracked vocal and wispy reverb clicks and pops.
Elsewhere, Lessons for Mutants truly comes alive in its relatively chipper and heavier moments. ‘I’d be Orange’ flips all notions of fame and glory upside down, hitting all the right spots along the way with its slick lyrics, male oo-la-la-la backing vocals and tight beats. Warren channels 90s grunge pop, ala Veruca Salt or Smashing Pumpkins on ‘Piscean Lover’, and those stylings are heard again on curiously titled ‘:/’ which rattles along at pace with a gritty Sheela-na-gig style guitar and bass riff propelling it forward. Another album highlight is ‘Hi Res’, an exquisitely sour no-nonsense break-up song that should definitely be on your go-to playlist for failed relationships.
Change and reinvention may be nothing new to Warren, but on Lessons for Mutants something else is taking up space, trying to cut in on the protagonist of a story she’s uncovering, page by page. Clues may be found on closing track ‘Involvolus’, a song simply executed and yet overflowing with unexpectedly complex metaphors. Reaching deep into the soul through the ill-fated love story of Orpheus and Eurydice, ‘Involvolus’ is starkly perfect in every way and a fitting conclusion to this brief but wonderful album.
‘Lessons for Mutants’ is out on 7th October, via Wax Nine.
Photo: Philip Randall
