Soap & Skin - Lovetune For Vacuum (PIAS) Anja Plaschg, aka Soap & Skin, is only 18 years old, but you'd be easily mistaken for thinking she had lived a long, long life full of misery and despair rather than growing up with her parents and siblings on a pig farm in Austria. Most of the tracks from 'Lovetune For Vacuum' focus around Anja's vocals and an accompanying piano part of broken chords and slow melodies. To counteract the cleanliness of the piano the album slowly introduces and builds on familiar sounds. Following the short introduction from 'Sleep', 'Cry Wolf' gives you a taster of things to come with Anja's vocals layered heavily to create a choral effect. She avoids traditional percussion and opts for camera shutter clicks and cash register clashes to provide a beat. 'Thantos' is a gothic track, creating emotional depth through key and production rather than instrumentation. 'Fall Foliage' is one that somehow takes the album to an even more depressing level with chromatic melodies and gradually builds in depth and volume bringing in electronic elements and pounding beats. 'DDMMYYYY' is the peak of Anja's electronic experimentation on this album with highly produced squeaks and beats following an awkward but rhythmic pattern and growing into a chilling song with shouts and cries creeping through the mix. The album wraps up with a lullaby, 'Brother Of Sleep'; a calm after the storm. Soap & Skin is probably too dark and quirky for the mainstream but will be a bit hit with those who like obscure talent. www.pias.com AW Next