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Mastering a sound that swung between sleepy and sexy and between whispers and wails, the band’s previous work brimmed with undulated, haunted angst. Yet their newest release, ‘Some Like It Hot’, is a move away from their established moody murkiness and towards a newfound lustre.
‘Some Like It Hot’ is the band’s third album to be released via Matador Records, following 2023’s ‘Tracey Denim’ and ‘The Twits’, and can be heralded as a step into the spotlight, with music to match. No longer are members Nina Cristante, Sam Fenton and Jezmi Tarik Fehmi hidden in shadow-shrouded wings, but appear to be increasingly revelling in their recent polish.
Named after the 1959 film of the same name, starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon, ‘Some Like It Hot’ boasts a rich eclecticism of genres. Whilst all twelve tracks feature the band’s usual pivot between rippling drones and sickly sneers, the album ranges from stony faced psychedelia, ‘13’-era Blur-style lead guitars and bedroom, acoustic waves.
Opening with the propulsive ‘Fundraiser’, the band immediately declares that bar italia are bolder, brasher, bigger. With vocals that furiously ricochet between male and female alongside lashings of Britpop guitars, ‘Fundraiser’ is an immediate swaggering success. In similar fashion, ‘Cowbella’, the first single from the album, brims with Cristante’s signature snarls, whilst frenzied, fizzing guitars culminate in a rock-loaded finale.
Conversely, in ‘I Make My Own Dust’, the band venture down the, perhaps unexpected, avenue of trip-hop, with Fehmi’s spoken word passages galvanising Fenton’s forlorn preaches, both of which are emboldened by violent pops.
On balance, ‘omni shambles’ swanks with a lightning chorus that tussles with rampaging call and response guitar riffs, whilst the album’s penultimate track, ‘Eyepatch’ is a rock-heavy ambush that is reminiscent of turn-of-the-century indie. It’s interspersed with textbook bar italia scorns such as ‘cross my mind it feels like heaven / feels like having the worst time ever’.
Amongst the marauding musical attacks of the faster paced tracks, there are moments of calm within ‘Some Like It Hot’. For example, the panging waltz of ‘bad reputation’ is a swirling demonstration of the band’s lyrical prowess, with Fenton’s parting drones proving particularly atmospheric, whilst ‘Plastered’ is a sombre number with washings of slicing, electric guitar.
Through groaning feedback that ushers out the track, ‘the lady vanishes’ is reminiscent of the band’s earlier, low-fi workings, yet the final, title track is a melodic showstopper emboldened by a strong piano spine.
There is, however, a fierce contest for the album’s standout single. Perhaps the obvious choice would be ‘rooster’, a track that bites repeatedly: a result of lingering, searing guitar stings, reverberating basslines, a shrieking Cristante, and a fervent Fehmi. Or perhaps the more muted ‘Marble Arch’, that chimes with mod-inspired melodies and metropolitan musings such as, ‘Rain in London town / It reflects all the feelings of the people around’. Or even the spinning ‘Lioness’, where Cristante’s vocals, both backing and lead, provide a honeyed softness to a percussive-based caress that is as bittersweet as it is seductive.
In spite of their newly polished production, bar italia still retain their quintessentially London languidness. ‘Some Like It Hot’ successfully distils the serene with the frenzied, marks a turning point in the band’s craftsmanship, and an exudation of ever growing confidence.
Even though increased acclaim can come with waning mystique, bar italia’s latest output is a triumph. They have recently embarked on a global tour that kicked off at London’s The Dome on the 18th October, tickets can be found here.
Elizabeth Guest
Image: Rankin
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