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Sep 05, 2024 Web Exclusive By Mark Moody

The solo project of Moscow’s Apollinariya Kaspars, Settima Tacca returns with a full-length LP, Demos 4 Nobody. As the title implies, the nine tracks were initially intended to be demos for Kaspars’ ears only. But as with her prior work (her 2021 EP, Wondrous Feelings of Ages Long Gone, was reviewed by Under the Radar as well), the output exceeds the expectations of the home recordings of a solo artist creating from the isolation of a nation at conflict.

With little outside input, Kaspars constructed these songs with a handful of Cold War-era synths and bass guitar. The layered sustain and decay of the opening notes of lead song, “Hope,” recall the feel of Wondrous Feelings, but the piano of the prior work is replaced by a loping bass line and the sudden click on of an old school drum machine. Kaspars’ release shares a few words from the title of P.J. Harvey’s 4-Track Demos, with the following song, “Divine,” also bringing a bass forward push. She deadpans “What a wonderful thing to be alive,” with echoed handclaps and beats pulsing around her. The blend of heavy handed notes with Kaspars’ elevated level of insouciance brings to mind the early days of punk mixing with electronica.

The most fully formed track here, “DIW,” overlays rapid fire beats on top of single note synth lines and a loose limbed bass pattern. The nearly five-minute track morphs through a few iterations before Kaspars’ repeated plea: “Jesus Lord clean my soul, I’m only dressed in white,” as the track gives way to the wail of sirens. Affecting and urgent. On the flip side, the album’s most nostalgia laden track, “COPS (Believer),” appears at the end. Though an unlikely comparison, the song’s melody sounds like a super slowed down take on Wilco’s “Heavy Metal Drummer.” Kaspars’ intonation of “You were gonna get fucked over by the bad cops…let’s take a ride in suburbs,” becomes a chilling proxy for Jeff Tweedy’s “I sincerely miss those heavy metal bands, I used to go see on the landing in the summer.”
Other songs feel more truly sketches. The dreamier “NOW” has a bigger drum beat, while the appropriately titled “Shuf.,” is underpinned by swirling bass and a shuffling beat that you could see being worked further. With the highlights mentioned and some other more fully finished songs, Demos 4 Nobody clearly needed to see the light of day. If anything because it’s a testament to creation’s flame burning bright in an era of boycotts, darkness, and uncertainty. But more so on the work’s own merits, which are readily apparent. (www.settimatacca.bandcamp.com)

Author rating: 7.5/10