12

White Denim, one of the very best rock bands to emerge this millennium, have gone through rapidchanges in the 2020s, and now open an exciting new chapter with the wondrous album, '12', whicharrives rich in hot tunes and fresh invention.It's always been hard to keep pace with James Petralli's group, ever since they first exploded out ofAustin, Texas in '08 with hyper-kinetic post-punk bangers like Shake Shake Shake and I Start To Run.There was delicious romance in the original trio's MO, as they hatched intrepid sounds together vialengthy jams in a 1940s Spartan trailer parked up in woodland outside the city. James duly raced onthrough shifting line-ups and kaleidoscopic shades of soul, jazz and Southern rock, always with a feel ofin-the-moment authenticity.As for so many musicians, the pandemic forced Petralli into a radical rethink in both life and creativeprocess. Going into White Denim's twelfth long-player, he relocated his family to Los Angeles, and, barredfrom the usual workouts "on the floor" with his latest group members under COVID, he plunged deep intothe science of assembling tracks digitally, with contributions from players he'd sometimes never evenmeet.The results on '12' are intricate, hi-tech and forward-facing, yet also somehow still of a piece with thequesting ambition, rootsy swing and uplifting way with melody we've come to adore about Petralli's music.