During the six years between
Heads Up and
Radiate Like This, the members of
Warpaint gave themselves time to live their lives and work on the projects that keep their chemistry as a band potent.
Theresa Wayman and
Jenny Lee Lindberg released solo albums, while
Stella Mozgawa burnished her reputation as one of indie's most in-demand drummers and launched Belief, her collaboration with
Boom Bip. The COVID-19 global pandemic also added to what became the longest gap between the group's records, forcing
Warpaint's members to work separately in their respective home studios and wait to release the album until touring seemed like a real possibility. All of these obstacles and delays could have snuffed out the band's spark, but fortunately, that's not the case on
Radiate Like This. The group's process of letting each member contribute their parts and pass on the results to the next member honors the spontaneity at the heart of
Warpaint's music, while the time they took to refine their work continues the artful editing that made
Warpaint and
Heads Up sparkle. With each album, they've let the shapes of their songs emerge from their hazy sonics just a little bit more, and
Radiate's clearly carved rhythms and melodic arcs make for some of their most inventive and ear-catching moments. "Champion" is both delicate and driving, giving
Warpaint's smoky allure more of a pulse and a backbone and leaving plenty of room for
Wayman and
Emily Kokal's spiraling guitars to crest. A study in contrasts, "Hips" juxtaposes fragmented synths with gorgeously flowing vocal harmonies, and "Like Sweetness" is a classic
Warpaint reverie, though the newfound space between its syrupy guitars and bubbling synths reflects the irony of the album's creative method: the band had to make these intimately sensual songs at a distance. On nearly every track,
Warpaint bring new twists to their time-tested strengths. "Stevie" filters the rapturous tenderness of early-'70s R&B through the band's own soft-focus lens, while "Melting," which boasts submerged vocal harmonies that call to mind
Grouper, is a fine example of how effortlessly
Warpaint make a dramatic impact with soft sounds. They also pull off the not-so-simple feat of adding some playfulness to the album's eroticism, delivering both the chorus of "Proof" and the entwined folk, R&B, and synth pop of "Send Nudes" with a wink. Despite -- or perhaps because of -- the difficulties
Warpaint overcame while making the album,
Radiate Like This is a quiet stunner and a very welcome return. ~ Heather Phares