Power Review – Indie Rock Packed with Rich Melodies and No Filler

Not content with a career as a Grammy-winning engineer and producer, including credits with Boygenius, Slowdive, and Weyes Blood, since 2017, Sarah Tudzin has also been releasing her own songs under the alias Illuminati Hotties. Power is her first album in three years, during which she has processed a series of life-upending events, such as the death of her mother and new love, all while working on other people’s records.

This period away from her solo project has paid off: there is a real lightness of touch to these 13 fat-free and immaculately presented slices of melody-rich indie rock.

The lead single, “Can’t Be Still,” which is about the spiritual restlessness that seems to define modern life for so many people, builds smoothly from its simple opening riff before demonstrating how Tudzin knows her way around a winning chorus.

The cheerfully breezy “Sleeping In” is as delightful and effortless-sounding as the Cardigans were until they discovered melancholia. The mid-paced “Falling in Love With Somebody Better” is a slick kiss-off to an ex. Elsewhere, she channels the Breeders and Mitski to fine effect.

Throughout, there’s a pleasing directness to Tudzin’s songwriting, with one succinct banger following another. A joy.