The most prominent of Knoxville-raised Sean Bowie’s numerous noms de plume, Yves Tumor began as a murky sound collagist dwelling in the underbelly of electronic music’s avant-garde depths. Now they’re an extravagant bandleader inching towards alt-pop superstardom, making the sort of impression that has seen them interviewed by the likes of Michèle Lamy, Courtney Love and Kembra Pfahler.
They’re an alluring figure, harbouring a mystique that pervades even as they lay themself bare onstage. Musically, their potential to surprise at any given juncture has also endured, their sound twisting and branching between splintered ambient, R&B, noise, trip-hop, funk, glam, shoegaze, grunge and plenty more. On – to give it its full title – Praise a Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds), they share some of their catchiest and most openly introspective songwriting yet.
It hinges on centrepiece Heaven Surrounds Us Like a Hood, its heart-wrenching lyricism on childhood, spirituality and id unfurling alongside downcast melodies that suddenly blossom into something anthemic as Tumor samples and interpolates riffs from 70s Zamrock acts Witch and Keith Mlevhu into thunderous, choir-backed psychedelia. Echolalia, meanwhile, is a breathless, speak-singing trip into lovestruck dark wave and post-punk, underlining the record’s themes of psychosexual and spiritual trauma, fantasy and longing.
“The boy you are today ain’t from a lack of pain,” they lament on Fear Evil Like Fire, over the rush of double-time drums. Whether they’re running away from or towards something is anybody’s guess, but crucially, Tumor remains one step ahead of the rest.