Pacifica (The Presets)

FOUR years between albums is plenty of time for younger competitors to snatch the crown from Australia's electronic music kings.

Pacifica

FOUR years between albums is plenty of time for younger competitors to snatch the crown from Australia's electronic music kings.

The Presets' top spot was earned after 2008's Apocalypso, which spawned multi-platinum sales, ARIA awards and one world-conquering single in My People.

Now in their mid-30s, Sydney-based Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes have exchanged nightclubs for parenthood. One may assume they've lost touch with the culture that spawned this synth-and-drums duo and their stunning 2005 debut, Beams.

All doubts are vanquished within the first few bars of the first single, Youth in Trouble. The six-minute track is built on an insistent bass pattern, on top of which Hamilton - in typical piss-taking vocal style - parodies the media-led hand-wringing on behalf of Australian parents.

"Up out all night in bright-lit wonderland . . . With a music taste abominable / Man, I'm worried sick for youth in trouble." The layered irony is wonderful: moments later, the track fills with the kind of electronic noise and subterranean bass that'd piss off parents when played loud. As it should be.

This track is a departure from the clear, concise vocal hooks that have characterised the Presets' past hits. It's a perfect album opener because Pacifica bears little resemblance to their previous two releases. These 10 tracks are more electronica than dance music; to use an obvious party-drug analogy, it's more 5am comedown than 1am peak. At first, Pacifica's incongruity is a tough pill to swallow.

The lack of obvious singles is troubling -- the sea-shanty-like Ghosts is the most accessible track here -- as is the apparent dearth of vocal and melodic hooks. This jars with popular understanding of who the Presets are, and what they represent. It takes me about six listens to accept this record for what it is, not what it could have been if they had continued to follow their own songwriting formula. Impatient, dismissive fans will miss out on the Presets' most accomplished and mature album yet.

Pacifica sees the pair bower-birding from a wide range of aural sources: shades of dance titans Underworld and Sonicanimation are occasionally detectable, as well as more modern electronic acts such as Crystal Castles and the Knife.

The latter influence is particularly strong in track seven, Adults Only, which sees Hamilton pitch-shifting his vocals to a deep tone, as if trying to obscure his identity. This song is the album's emotional and artistic peak; a punishing acid-house pastiche led by stuttering, hornet-swarm synths.

Inspired by John Birmingham's Leviathan, Hamilton's dark lyrics take in Sydney's murderous past and uncertain future: "Children don't you know that we're living in a city that's built on bones?" he sings in the chorus; later, he mentions frail old ladies dying afraid and alone while surrounded by yuppies, small bars and coke.

Ultimately, Pacifica is the sound of two men who understand Australian pop culture better than anyone. Zeitgeist is a dirty word, but there's no doubt the Presets have produced a record that sounds simultaneously of-the-moment and futuristic. The crown remains intact.

LABEL: Modular/UMA
RATING: 4 stars