A cynical litany of love gone wrong.
Born from hectic writing sessions late at night, The Pleasures have offered an album that critically examines where the blame lies in lost love. The Melbourne-based duo, Catherine Britt and Lachlan Bryan, have forged a partnership in the vein of Parton and Wagoner and Parsons and Harris. A dark, brooding alt-country album packed with blues-rock influence, “Enemy Of My Enemy” is a cynical litany of love gone wrong.
Anger ebbs and flows throughout. One moment, the duo spits venom and points fingers: ‘Was It Something I Said?’ is a callous duet taking place at the crossroads of a relationship as the singers dare each other to walk away. Elsewhere, the emotions soften and ease into a ballad. On ‘It’s OK (Knew What You Meant)’, there’s a glimmer of acceptance and maturity in letting go. “Had so little time with you, you left so much unsaid”, Britt and Bryan sing together. But in the end, the bond between the two narrators is strong enough to know what was unspoken and to go their separate ways. Who was right and wrong no longer matters; “though it wasn’t quite the truth, that’s how it is, the way it went”.
Causing pain to lovers and suffering in pain oneself are common threads throughout, leading to anguish and rumination. “You got a picture in your wallet of somebody you hurt who keeps you up at night”, Britt sings in ‘Good People’, leading to the observation that despite this guilt, there is no specific delineation of who is good or bad. The closing track, ‘A Little Blue’, sums up the universal ruthlessness in finding the one: “we’re all a little tired of finding out too late what we should have known yesterday”.
“Enemy Of My Enemy” is a rollercoaster of tempo, perhaps mimicking the volatility of romance. It’s still a bit tricky to compute– immediately after the slow dance of ‘Step Away’ comes the raucous ‘Wild Things’. Right after, the energy is tempered down into another acoustic duet. At times messy and unfettered, the record embraces uncertainty and provides an unvarnished look at romance, warts and all.
