Let the sky darken with champagne corks – there’s a new Ider album. Megan Markwick and Lily Somerville have made sharply intelligent synth-pop plucked from the pages of their diaries for more than a decade, and this is a welcome third instalment. The English duo have always been particularly good at pellucid harmonising and piquant lyrics – both in abundance here. Smart singles Unlearn and Girl are well chosen, seeding the album’s themes of letting the past go to embrace the future and the importance of celebrating femininity in all its forms. They’re also solid steel bangers.
Perhaps there’s a touch too much therapy speak, but as the pair have pointed out, that’s how so many of us navigate the world now. And they’re generally very good at covering tricky topics in their songs, gilded with generous charm. Disordered eating, abortion rights and a wide range of shady male behaviours are eyeballed. “I wanna throw your shit in the middle of the street… Delete the files of your solo EP,” they threaten on the darkly hilarious You Don’t Know How to Drive. As always with Ider, you believe every word.
