This album starts off with “The Call”, and it’s certainly an eye opening one. For one bizarre moment I feel like I may have accidentally put on a Die Antwoord album God help me. Nahh, all jokes aside what the hell even was that at the opening? I’m not sure if that was vocalist Jamie Stewart, but man I hope it wasn’t. Thankfully when Jamie does come in her regains control quickly. As far as the feel of this track goes, it’s synth heavy, with a ton of post punk underlying feels, so basically this is textbook Xiu Xiu. Jamie’s signature theatrical performance is on display, and if you’re new to his vocal style this may not be a good place to start, it literally took me years to truly appreciate his vocals. Whoever that was at the intro returns for the chorus with this bizarre “Clap Bitches” mantra, who the hell even is this dude. It’s a shame because that alone really brings down “The Call” for me, outside of this guys bizarre performance it’s a solid track. The only other real issue about this track I want to bring up is just how straightforward this is. Xiu Xiu have always had two sides to them, the more avant-garde experimental side, and their more straightforward material. Personally, while I enjoy some of the band’s more avant-garde material, I’ve always enjoyed their pop stuff a little bit more. “The Call” lands much more on the pop side of things, and I’m sure some old school fans of Xiu Xiu are by this point ready to turn the album off already. “Queen of The Losers” up next is much more along the lines of what people are expecting to hear here, with an intro filled with pounding drums and much heavier synths. All I can say is, this album got a whole lot darker and fast. Jamie’s vocals here seem so fragile and small, especially when he’s surrounded by all of this chaos behind him. Between the yelps that occasionally jump out of nowhere and these explosive cymbal crashes, there’s a ton to love about this. Xiu Xiu certainly know a great deal about pacing, they just love to get their listener’s on the edge of their seat ready to expect anything. Then we have the chorus on “Queen of The Losers”, which while it’s absolutely hulking and damn near suffocating, there’s a strange beauty deep down. Then we come down off of this gigantic chorus to hear Jamie going off in his usual rants, at the end of the day this is just so Xiu Xiu, and it’s pretty darn good. Up next is the lead single from this album, “Wondering”, and probably my favorite track here. The synth work is heavier than it’s been so far here, but so far it’s been working great for them. I think the real show here is just how confident Xiu Xiu sound, even though overall it has all of the same Xiu Xiu elements. The chorus on this one is what’s really going to stay with you. It’s so ghastly and totally bizarre, yet to an extent groovy. While all of these classic Xiu Xiu elements are present though, I still feel like it’s being presented in a much more inviting way, and there’s going to be a lot of fans that don’t like that at all. Tracks like “Wondering” would actually be a good place to start for someone who hasn’t listened to Xiu Xiu ever. It’s chilly, it’s disturbing, and as far as a stand-alone track it actually works really well. Up next is “Get Up”, one of the most true to form and challenging tracks on here. Instantly this track is so bare bones sounding as it creeps along, for hardcore Xiu Xiu fans this is certainly a track to check out. Jamie’s vocals here are fantastic, as for once he eases us into his much more theatrical performance slowly instead of throwing us in headfirst. This one has such a minimal atmosphere, one that’s so quiet that every time Jamie screams “RISE” you don't expect it at all. Once again, when it comes to the chorus here there’s almost a strange release, almost a euphoria to everything. Compared to the first few tracks I wouldn’t say I like this as much but it’s certainly still pretty damn good. If you’re into the more subtle side of Xiu Xiu, this is going to be ear candy for you, and while I’m not head over heels for the instrumental, Jamie's performance here is absolutely brilliant.
“Hay Choco Bananas” is next, which is about as chilly an uninviting as it gets from Xiu XIu. In some really bizarre twist I feel like this comes off way too similar to the theme from Lavender Town in Pokemon Red & Blue for the old gameboy, and that alone get’s me all weirded out. As far as a downright twisted sounding track that’s filled with darkness, look no further than right here. Jamie here sounds completely shrouded in shadows and actual darkness. I love the creeping bass here and the fuzzy synths that lay this chilly blanket over everything. “Hay Choco Bananas” isn’t my favorite track here, but considering how usually “hit or miss” I get with Xiu Xiu overall I’m still enjoying this album a lot. “Jenny GoGo” up next is the most massive and probably darkest track we’ve heard yet. The intro here sounds like something off of the legendary Silent Hill soundtrack. Jamie is so great working with these little details, seriously whatever instrument that is on that pre chorus sounds like it’s actually in a ton of pain. We’re back to a much heavier synth oriented sound, but Xiu Xiu time and time again have proven that that’s a sound they can work with nicely. Then, just when I’m about to write this off as just another Xiu Xiu track, that chorus hits and it’s easily the most wild thing I’ve heard here by far. The synths here are almost cartoonish, practically sounding like a parody of 1940’s horror movies. But pair that up with Jamie’s desperate sounding screams, HELL yes it works. The contrast between Jamie’s work on the verses compared to the chorus is actually pretty fantastic. I can’t help but keep stressing though, this isn’t nearly as challenging as some of Xiu Xiu’s older work. It’s going to alienate some fans, it’s going to bring in some new ones too. Also, I don’t know if anyone else besides me remembers that fantastic experimental music band Dirty Beaches, but I’m totally getting a Dirty Beaches vibe here. Up next is “At Last, At Last”. The intro here is one of the quietest we’ve heard in a while. While the instrumental on this one works just fine, there’s too much about this track that does nothing for me, which I haven’t said in a while. Jamie’s performance here isn’t blowing me away at all, and those bizarre robotic vocals that pop in for the chorus just seem like a desperate attempt to seem artsy to me (which Xiu Xiu are, I just don’t think it’s necessary to try that hard). While the synths that pop in here and there are heavy and certainly solid, I feel like they don’t connect at all with Jamie’s performance. Jamie has always seemed like the ringleader of everything to me, but on “At Last, At Last” he really doesn’t seem in control of anything. Thankfully, Xiu Xiu do in fact pull themselves out of their slump (slightly) on the album’s title track “Forget”. The beat here is a little off kilter, and I’m having some serious trouble really putting my finger on it. Jamie’s performance certainly does sound more back in line with what it should be, but the insetumental here doesn’t click with me at all. The synths sound all beefy and huge for that hook, but that’s honestly about it. Overall this is an improvement from the last track here, but once again what the hell is up with these bizarre vocal samples. If they had a purpose I would be totally fine with it, but I seriously feel like they were just thrown in there at the last minute. Thankfully, the instrumental does eventually pick up a little here, but “Forget” is far from perfect.
"Petite" certainly takes a very quick turn. So far it's been an album dominated by synthesizers, it's just unexpected. However, it really gives Jamie a chance to shine. Honestly, it comes off wonderfully, and ends up being probably the most beautiful track here, and certainly shows some emotion we haven't heard from Jamie yet. The strings behind Jamie add a real nice touch, and besides that there's not much going on. In a good way though, in a very minimal straightforward way. For a Xiu Xiu acoustic cut, I couldn't have asked for much more, not to mention as Jamie's performance marches onward it goes from beautiful to absolutely breathtaking. The album ends off with "Faith, Torn Apart", which might be the most Avant-Gard track on the whole album, almost sounding like something from Tim Hecker's "Virgins". It's hypnotic to say the least and it certainly gets you on the edge of your seat. The keyboards that come in are goofy to an extent, but for Xiu Xiu they work wonderfully. The background vocals here bring in an almost cult-like vibe, to be honest I wouldn't have minded other tracks here to be this bizarre and freakish. Jamie's vocal performance is just as "out there" with these bizarre vocal effects, and everything ends up working out great. "Faith, Torn Apart" is certainly patience testing, but it ends the album on a high note.
Rating: 7.9/10
Give A Listen To: “Queen of the Losers”, “Wondering”, “Jenny GoGo”, “Faith, Torn Apart”
Overall Thoughts: Like almost every other Xiu Xiu album, "Forgive" is going to be an either love or hate experience, there's not that much of an in between. There are a lot of great, freakish, synth heavy experimental tracks here, with only a few tracks that don't add up. If you're into more experimental stuff and can handle some theatrical, dark performances, give this a try.
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