Sixth June
Stay!
Young & Cold Records
Berlin-based duo Sixth June have spent the last few years roaming further afield from the deeply atmospheric style of darkwave which Laslo Antal and Lidija Andonovhad on lock from their earliest releases. One-off singles, soundtracking, side projects, and even an ambitious 41 minute single track LP all found them making sorties into neighbouring acoustic and electropop terrain. New LP Stay! is a declarative return to a style which has only risen in prominence since the band’s excellent exercise in it, 2017’s Virgo Rising.
If you’re familiar with Sixth June’s back catalog, the apparent ease with which Stay! circles back to the band’s familiar strengths will feel immediately comforting; if this is your first point of contact with Sixth June, their ability to make relatively stripped down synth programming feel timbrally and harmonically rich will impress. Folks like myself will often hold Sixth June up using terms like “evocative” and “cinematic”, and I regret to inform you that Stay! is no exception in prompting that sort of verbiage, with an enveloping but tastefully restrained bed of synths framing many tracks in a visual light, from the Mann-like pulse of opener “Dance With Me” to the more reflective, Japanese kitchen-sink drama of “Sanjam”.
While generally feeling like the archetypal ‘return to form’ record, hints of Sixth June’s soundtracking and the Diesein side project can be traced out here and there. “Stay” sounds like a souvenir of their journeys well outside of darkwave they’ve brought back home, part REM-styled alt-country, part Lee & Nancy on lean. Regardless of origin or inspiration, there’s an odd counterpoint between the warm blanket of synths which makes up the body of “Wake Up” in the style of “Plainsong” or Julee Cruise and the staccato beat which kicks the track along.
By the time Stay! winds to a close even on a first playthrough its style will be palpable to existing fans and newcomers, yet a certain je ne sais quois always remains about the band. Andonov’s knowing, bittersweet tone on closer “Collapse” cinches the tonal tension which sits at the heart of so much of the band’s best work, pointing to a deeply warm and human interior while maintaining an austere and icy edifice. While uncannily familiar, there’s no one else who rides that sort of dynamic the way Sixth June do, and it’s great to hear them holding to that form. Recommended.
