Right after the reunion tour of Siouxsie and The Banshees singer Siouxsie and drummer Budgie went into a studio to record a new album of their side project The Creatures. Hái! is the first album of this band in five years. Both the title and the artwork look Japanese. Besides that, and the fact that the cd was recorded in a studio in Tokyo, and only a few vague hints of Japanese music there is not much Eastern to this album.
Hái! is nonetheless a very good Creatures cd, that at times is reminiscent of their early work (Feast) due to the organic sound. The songs are varied and worked out very well. Despite that the songs are mainly built around vocals and a wide diversity of percussion sounds, the album stays interesting until the end. This is due to the good arrangements and the nice mood (that at times is like the older/better Banshee work).
Hái! is an excellent Creatures album. Hopefully Siouxsie and Budgie will be working more on this project in the future, so that we also will be saved of anymore Banshee resurrections (both live or studio for that matter).
