Melbourne band Rat vs Possum, discuss feijoas, pets and gear with Bachelorette’s ANNABEL ALPERS. Both bands are on the bill for next month’s Melbourne Festival. Read here.

Uncut Magazine, July 2011, reviewed by John Dale:
“Annabel Alpers has flown solo as Bachelorette for a few years now, but with her self-titled third she’s finally started soaring free of her influences. There are still touches of the Stereolab/Broadcast school of archaic electronics, but Alpers’ melodies are now fuller and richer, and texturally Bachelorette brims with contrast, as in “Sugarbug”‘s lift from gentle, ice-blink verses to choruses that fizz with Farfisas. There’s a touch of icy Nico in “The Last Boat’s Leaving”, but the clincher is Alpers’ androgynous vocals – a drowsy Marc Bolan dreaming on helium.”

Music Australia Guide, June 6 2011:

Dominion Post, May 19 2011:

Links:

The Decibel Tolls

Drowned in Sound

Bowlegs

Under The Radar

The Wounded Jukebox

Leo Weekly

Bearded Magazine

Exclaim!

Click to read

Click to read

Click to read

Click to read

Click to read

Click to read

“Annabel Alpers has put New Zealand on the tech-pop map. Recording as Bachelorette, her first album for the Drag City label is a pop treatise on technology’s perpetual intrusion on society. Titled “My Electric Family,” the record takes aim at an increasingly computer-reliant population. Her method is the catch. As a student of computer-based composition, Bachelorette makes use of traditional instruments, but deploys mostly electronic sounds. Like Kraftwerk’s “Computer World,” she uses the very devices she’s critiquing. The hazy doo-wop of “The National Grid” explores the urban existence; backing vocals inch the rhythm along, giving the feeling of walking on a crowded sidewalk. The brass section by the Royal New Zealand Air Force Brass Band on “Dream Sequence” plays like a sound-off for more physical activity. Disconsolate ballad “Where to Begin” poses the question, “Will this digital obsession ever end?” Again, Alpers’ lyrics articulately punctuate the situation: “You stay in your room/ On the computer/ Observing strangers/ Ignoring those around you.” “Her Rotating Head” is synth-pop on par with other outer-echelon divas like Annie (Norway) and Robyn (Sweden), but instead of a bubble gum theme, Alpers subliminally rails against objectification by likening the female side of a romance to a robotic doll. Using pop music as a vehicle for introspection, Bachelorette details the benefit and detriment of technological evolution, making one of the year’s best records in the process. CHECK THIS TRACK OUT: “Technology Boy,” the album’s centerpiece, veers out of the city and onto the scenic route, as processed harmonies flicker and float above warm, competing analog/digital tones”