Bloom Offering, “Venus Shrugged” (Helen Scarsdale Agency)

Earlier this year I wrote in The Stranger, "Bloom Offering (Seattle's Nicole Carr) has been honing her artfully nihilistic, dance-in-the ruins music and seething vocal condemnations to a stiletto point over the last few years. Expect big things from her in 2018." My prediction, I'm happy to report, has come to pass. Bloom Offering has earned her way onto some prestigious bills over the last nine months, including with avant-metal mavericks the Body, minimal-wave stars Boy Harsher, and tonight's gig with Sweden's Molly Nilsson at Barboza. On top of these high-profile slots, Carr will be releasing Episodes on November 30—her first vinyl album (after six cassette full-lengths) for the discerning Helen Scarsdale Agency label.

While I would've chosen the sinister, predatorial, and pitiless "Out 2 Get U" as the lead track from Episodes, "Venus Shrugged" does make for a strong first single. Carr sings with a captivating ennui, using—if I may speculate—the mythical goddess of beauty, sex, fertility, etc. as a lever to express a withering dismay toward intimacy ("there's no way, no way, no way to please you"). The synth melody evokes late-'70s Gary Numan at his chilliest and most grandiose while industrial-grind and face-slapping percussion offers provocative friction with the track's billowing beauty. Carr packs a lot of drama and nuanced angst in under five minutes here.