“Motif,” Love In Constant Spectacle’s fourth track, is the closest Jane Weaver has come in over a decade to the folk influences embraced on her 2007 and 2010 albums Cherlokalate and The Fallen By Watch Bird. Not that her new album is rooted in past ventures, more that it appears she has taken a step back to consider what she has done, and has found this reflection comfortable.
And there is a lot to ponder. Weaver, who thrives on embracing new musical and wider cultural discoveries, has her own résumé to contemplate. Her first solo album was issued in 2002. Just before this, there was her membership of Misty Dixon. A decade earlier, there was Kill Laura.
Love In Constant Spectacle follows-up 2021’s Flock and is her first album to be a collaborative production. The choice of long-time PJ Harvey confidante John Parish for the role is fascinating – he certainly is not someone who will steer music towards the accessible or smooth-off rough edges. Clearly it is Weaver who has made the choice that, despite its sometimes dark, sharp-elbowed lyrics, Love In Constant Spectacle exudes a tranquility.
As evidence for a form of recalibration, the resultant album is exquisite. Flock’s nods to dance music are absent. So is the Hawkwind-like chug reinforcing much of the immediately preceding albums. However, Flock’s poppiness is present. With its bubbling, looping synths, opening cut “Perfect Storm” relates as much to the Cluster of Zuckerzeit as it does to this pop sensibility. Weaver’s voice – warm here, lacking the disembodied style of yore – embraces a soaring melody so immediate it instantly embraces. Next, the glistening, rhythmically shuffling “Emotional Components” is equally gorgeous. From hereon in, thrill after thrill. The melodies are direct, the arrangements understated, the avant garde touches concordant with everything else. Love In Constant Spectacle is Jane Weaver’s most cohesive, most welcoming album to date.
