abracadabra's 'peel away' Is Off-Kilter Psych-Pop With a Warm, Radical Heart
Oakland duo abracadabra — Hannah Skelton on vocals and synths, Chris Niles on bass and synths — have quietly built a sound that splits the difference between psychedelic pop, dub groove, and leftfield electronics. “peel away,” out now via Melodic Records in a hand-numbered 50-copy CD run alongside digital release, is their most introspective statement to date, working through themes of luck, privilege, repair, and environmental grief without ever losing its sense of play.
The Sonic Breakdown
The Production & Mix
The mix is built around bouncy basslines and synths that appear and disappear like ghosts, an arrangement style that owes an obvious debt to Talking Heads, ESG, and Tom Tom Club but never feels like pastiche. Niles’s bass anchors everything with a dubby, elastic pocket while Skelton’s synth lines dart in and out at odd angles, giving the whole EP a deconstructed, off-kilter quality even at its most danceable.
Standout Performance
Skelton’s vocal is the record’s MVP — she describes her melodies as arriving already carrying “hidden messages,” and that intuitive, subconscious quality comes through in performances that feel more discovered than written, layered in a way that rewards repeat listens.
Track Highlights
⚡ Lead single “face card” is the clearest thesis statement: a bouncy, ironic meditation on fortune and self-made-success mythology dressed up as a pure dance track.
🌈 The back half of the EP turns more inward, trading the single’s bounce for warmer, more spacious arrangements that let the record’s themes of repair and self-reflection breathe.
Six songs, no filler, and a whole lot more warmth than “political pop record” usually implies.