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Walk the Moon - What if Nothing (2017) Review
Growing up, I was never that into music. I'd listen to the radio in the car, but I didn't have any particular desire to listen to music in my free time. I remember hearing classmates talk about how much they loved certain bands and music in general, how it kept them going when they were feeling bad… and I just couldn't wrap my mind around that. How could something as simple as a couple songs effect someone so deeply? It just didn't make sense to me.
Fast forward 20 years, and I can confidently say that my younger self was extremely off the mark with that take. There was a lot I needed to learn back then, and a lot I still need to learn. But, lucky for me today, I have access to some music that is helping me through that learning process in some very special ways.
Walk the Moon wasn't the first band that showed me that music was something that could be meaningful to my life - that would be Fall out Boy (a band I'm sure I'll be writing about quite a bit on this blog) - but they're absolutely one of the bands that has had a profound impact on my life. Even before I was really at a point where I could emotionally connect with music, their songs had a certain charm that was undeniable. In fact, when I bought a record player in college with my freshman year roommate, their sophomore album was the first LP I added to my collection. While Talking is Hard is an album that means a lot to me, it's not the album I resonate the most with. That album would be their next release.
What if Nothing, released in 2017, was their third studio album from record label RCA (and fourth overall album when including their self published LP I Want! I Want!). It was a bit of a departure from their previous releases, this time having a cohesive vision and message. While they weren't strangers to having emotional and serious songs before this - my mind immediately goes to I Can Lift a Car - this an entire album dedicated to breakups.
However, just calling it a breakup album really doesn't do it justice. It's not just a reflection of having your heart broken in a romantic sense, but the feelings that accompany any kind of loss. Before this album came together, much of the band was going through a wide variety of turmoil. Front man Nick Petricca was dealing with his father's battle with Alzheimer's, as well as the loss of his long term relationship. Their bassist, Kevin Ray, experienced a shoulder injury that could have spelled the end of his musical career. And, overall, the band was beginning to feel the burn out of success. Through big and small means, their connection with each other was starting to feel the pulls of entropy.
They agreed that a short hiatus was necessary for them to begin healing. That break lasted for roughly five months before they reconnected and felt the spark reignite them. But, much like a candle that's been burning for too long, they knew they couldn't just continue on as they had before - something needed to change if they were to succeed. That change is reflected in this album, though not necessarily in an immediately noticeable way.
Talking is Hard is an album that the band described as being about the power love and taking control of that. It was an album that said "we have it figured out, and we know what to do." But, as anyone who's felt like they were on top of the world before would know, you never really have all of the answers. This new album was about introspection, accepting that you don't - and won't - have all the answers, and how are you going to be able to be okay with that. And, in my opinion, they nailed that mission in so many ways.
From here on out, this review is going to be analyzing my personal relationship with each song on the album. The original meanings of the songs will factor in, but I'm more interested in engaging with the soul of the album, getting introspective and figuring out exactly what the songs mean to me. As this is the first review (or written work in general) that's going on this blog, I'm letting myself indulge in this exercise.
Press Restart
This song really sets the tone for the album in a great way. It's message is pretty clear: I broke the hell out of my heart, but I'm not going to let that stop me. It's so easy to consumed by negativity when going through loss - be it grief, guilt, shame, loneliness… the list goes on. That sorrow follows you around constantly, seeing it in everything from strangers on the street to the darkest corners of your mind. But, this song is an uplifting reminder that every ending is the start of something new.
In particular, the third verse really hits me like an emotional bullet train. I have gone through so much of my own life not feeling like I was in control, that I was just a passenger in my own story. I was constantly so overwhelmed with self doubt and insecurity, even when I tried my best to fake-till-I-made-it out. I was waiting on life to drop the perfect opportunity on me, but there was always something holding me back. I really was a damsel in distress waiting on a deus-ex… and that mindset of helplessness led me to hold onto all of the pain and struggles I was going through, too afraid to ask for help from anyone… and it led me to being someone's next ex. It's only now that I've had my heart broken, that I've felt so incredibly low and truly helpless that I'm able to see things clearly. I have to take these risks, put myself out there and be vulnerable if I want to be able to live again. And, like all experiments, there are going to be unknown variables and set backs and unexpected things happening… but I'm the mad scientist of my life. No experiment worth conducting can happen without a little (managed) risk.
Again, I don't think they could have picked a better song to start off this album. It tells you exactly what this album is going to put you through. It's going to be here to help you reflect, to find a way to start writing your story and living on your own terms. But, unlike so many self-help messages written by men, it's not telling you to make your bed and be an alpha and everyone else is beneath you. It's a softer message, an encouragement to be okay with yourself, and the parts that need to change… well, those can change! These ideas get explored deeper in later songs, so we'll address those when we get there.
Headphones
This was by far my favorite song when I listened to this album the first time. It was a fun, upbeat song about being resilient, and that's all I really needed at the time. I was a MUCH less introspective person in 2017, really just starting my journey down becoming a more emotionally intelligent person. But, I was still very disconnected from my emotions, bottling them up and refusing to address them. So, I just saw the song as a fun thing I could listen to that would distract me from the emotions I was running from.
And, to some degree, that's what the song is here for on the album. Following Press Restart, it's an immediate reassurance to the listener that they're just as tough and valuable as a good pair of headphones. However, it also lets you get all of the anger and jealousy and frustrations out of your system before you can start being more introspective. If you try to change your life for the better without getting that anger out of the way first, it's going to completely color your worldview. You won't be able to take a hard, critical look at yourself and the role you play in your own life if you.
I really like the comparison to an old pair of headphones, it works so incredibly well for me. Headphones are one of the few pieces of technology that really don't lose their value over time. If you're familiar with the youtube channel DankPods, you know very well that old headphones do stand the test of time better than most things. Sure, newer headphones will have features that that older ones don't, but that doesn't make them inherently better. Just like people, you're going to have compromises in your life that not everyone else will, but that doesn't take away your value as a person.
One Foot
Now that the listener has gotten their anger out, this song steps in to reassure the listener that the journey forward is going to be difficult… but it's doable. It comes from their experiences at the Burning Man music festival, a several day long retreat in the harsh deserts of Nevada. The image of being out in the middle of the desert is as powerful to me as it is to them: you can either keep walking forward or stop and die. Now, that might seem harsh, but that's the cruel reality of the world. If you succumb to the pain that holds you back, you won't be able to move forward. You might not literally die in a sandy wasteland, but you won't be able to see the world for the beautiful place it is.
It's also a really good reminder that you don't have to go through these challenges alone. I know how isolating it can be to struggle on your own - that's something that I'm currently dealing with as I write this review. But even when it feels like I'm completely alone, that I've pushed away and hurt everyone who could possibly care about me… I'm not alone. Even if it means reaching out to people who you aren't the closest to, there's always a path forward. Just like the desert, this path is unknown and you'll have to take some risks… maybe you'll get lost along the way, but you have to keep moving forward… One foot in front of the other.
Surrender
The time has finally come for the listener to start down the tough journey of self reflection. This song is so good, but the lesson is so incredibly hard to accept. When you're going through loss, it's incredibly difficult to accept that… sometimes it really is best to let things go… to let people go. It's so easy to keep making excuses, to ask for one more night, one more minute, one more kiss… but eventually, you need to face the tragic fact that something is clearly not working and the longer you keep lying to yourself and saying that there isn't a problem… the more you're going to end up hurt.
However, accepting that you need to people go doesn't have to be painful. You don't have to disregard all of the good they have done for you, all of the joy and love they've brought to your life. Sure, the loss of someone important to your life will hurt, and you can focus on that pain… but it will keep you from growing.
It was really hard for me to accept the lines "Send me back a thousand days to that night at your old place. Tell me how it ends, I'd do it all again," because… no? If I could go back in time, I would absolutely do things differently… but that's missing the point. If things didn't happen how they did, there's no certainty that it wouldn't end up the same way. As painful as it is to accept… sometimes you do need to hurt in order to realize the magnitude of the problems you've been ignoring. I don't think I would be coming to the deep, painful realizations that I have if things hadn't ended the way they had… and that's not a comfortable realization.
I hate that I could hurt the people I love so much, but I had so many opportunities to be open and honest with them, to ask them for help. But, I was too caught up in my own self to see things clearly. It really did take a devastating loss to be able to see that. And, as much as I want these people back in my life, I know that I have to surrender to the pain and let it teach me some tough lessons before I can hope to really make amends with them. Maybe I'm still too much in denial at this point, I'm not able to truly let go of these connections… but I'm okay with letting go of the people for now. I'm using the loss as a way to motivate myself to be a better, more open and vulnerable person. That's a lesson I don't think I would have been able to learn to this degree without this song.
All I Want
We've finally gotten to the song on this album that really hits me the hardest. In the past, I had always liked the song well enough. It's upbeat, fun, and has these spoken word elements to it that really please my musical sensibilities… but I think I could tell that it was trying to say something I wasn't ready to hear.
This song is about needing external validation, and that's something that I deeply struggle with. For as long as I can remember, I've had this feeling that I wasn't enough. It was only when I'd get attention from others that I would be able to feel a little bit more okay. Now, I don't have the support system I had built for myself, and those feelings of inadequacy are rushing in and taking over. It's even gotten to a place where even when I do have someone telling me that I'm a good person and worthy of love… I can't accept it.
Getting into the lyrics, there really isn't a single line in this song that doesn't hit me like a gut punch. It starts off with Nick waking up on the sidewalk, confused at how he could have ended up like that, it just isn't like him. And, while I've never been in that exact situation, I have more than my fair share of experiences with the same feelings. Finding yourself in a situation that feels so wrong to be in, having done something that goes against your values… thinking that there's no way you could be there… but you are. Then, with the first spoken word interlude, he challenges himself (and the listener) to look inside at themself. How well DO you know yourself? How much have you been running from? You need to confront these questions honestly, because there can't be any change that matters if it doesn't come from within. It might be tough, because the longer you let yourself live in this dream world where nothing is wrong and you couldn't possibly make any mistakes… the harder it's going to be to wake up and see what you've become.
The pre-chorus kicks in, listing off excuses. Maybe if I had more money, maybe if I had more sex, maybe if I was straight… then I wouldn't be in this place, I wouldn't have made those choices. It's really easy to let yourself make these kinds of excuses, because maybe there is some truth to them. There will always be external factors that effect your life, but it's important to not let those things stop you from being aware of what's going on inside. The second pre-chorus also chimes in with "maybe if I didn't exist," which… yeah, I'm not gonna lie and say that's not a thought that's crossed my mind. But, when that thought comes up in my own lowest moments, I try to remind myself that even though I've hurt people… I've done a lot of good in the world, too. I've brought joy and love to them, and that fact doesn't stop being true just because they're not in your life anymore.
Verse two takes you out of your own head and puts you in the shoes of someone else. Nick is in a car in the middle of traffic, and all he can focus on is what's in front of him: bumper to bumper traffic. It reflects how he feels about his life (and likely what you're feeling as well): stuck in one spot when you want to be somewhere else, somewhere happier. Then he starts talking to his cab driver, someone who left the people he loves to find opportunities across the world. Everything he makes, he sends back to his family. It would be so easy to be in that situation and let yourself be overcome with negativity, but this cab driver isn't miserable. He finds the little joys in life, he gives back to the people who matter to him, and he's found a way to be happy in spite of the difficulties he faces. I've found myself thinking "be that cab driver" when life starts looking bad. I can't change the realities of my life, but I can make the most of what I have, I can give back to the people I love.
Finally, the bridge rounds the song off with some mantras to live by. Be your own teacher, your own sanctuary, your own Friday night. Support from others is important - humans are social creatures, after all - but you can't let yourself become codependent. Finding some way to be okay with yourself is the path to happiness. As much as your loved ones might want to be there for you, they can't be there for you all the time. The only one who will be is yourself, so learn to be okay with it. And, as cheesy as mantras are… unfortunately, they're effective tools. The more you tell yourself that you ARE enough just on your own, the easier it will be to accept. It's a scientifically proven fact that the way you talk to yourself impacts your overall view on life, so setting up times to say out loud that you're enough… it will eventually lead to you believing it and embodying it.
All Night
I'll be honest, this is one of the songs on this album that I've yet to really connect with. At first glance, especially if you focus on the chorus, it's a song about being ready to move on and find love again after being hurt… but that doesn't really sit right with me. The verses don't scream "hey, I'm ready to find love again!" No, I think it's trying to say something else.
As I read the lyrics over and over, it's less about being ready to move on and more about wanting to be able to move on. The line "I'm getting older but not getting wiser" hits me. I'm 27, a proper adult, but I still often feel myself thinking the same ways I did when I was 17. I'm still stuck in the thought patterns I developed at a younger age to keep myself myself safe from the traumas I experienced. There's also a bit of anger in the rest of the verse, and I can really relate to that. Sometimes it does get me angry looking at other people, going through life and wanting something more, but I've been waiting in line this whole time. If anyone deserves a break, it's obviously me… right?
The second verse then expands on those feelings, leaning less into anger and more into the exhausting futility of it all. You work all day just for a little break… but then you're back at it the next day. Is it really worth it, the cycle of suffering for minimal happiness in return? Will this line ever end? When I die, will I be able to look back and be proud of the life I lived?
The song never answers these questions. It never tell you that it IS worth it, or tells you how to make it worthwhile. I think that's a really smart move, not just because this album's goal was to make the listeners think and ask themselves tough questions, but because there isn't an answer. There's no one-size-fits-all solution to finding happiness in life, and that's something the band had to learn the hard way. Despite their success and fame, they all still ended up hurt and burned out. This song poses questions that we're all going to have to ask ourselves at some point, and likely those questions will come up again and again throughout life.
I do like to read the chorus as a kind of answer, but I think it kind of muddles the message a little bit. The obvious interpretation of the chorus is that they're talking to a person, a possible romantic interest in specific. However… that undercuts the more powerful message of All I Want and implies that finding validation in someone else is the solution. I choose to read the chorus as not about a person, but about something that brings you joy. It could be person, but it could also be a new hobby, a career, anything that makes life worth living. I know for myself that it's hard to get invested in something when my heart is broken, even things that once brought me a lot of comfort. I've been burned before, my connection with the things that made me happy were changed and they no longer help me the way they used to… but I'm ready to find passion and joy in life again.
Like I said at the start, this is a song that I've struggled to connect with, so maybe this reading isn't really spot on for everyone. It's possible that it's message is as simple as "I'm ready to start dating again," but… I don't know. Take it or leave it, these are my thoughts on the song.
Kamikaze
Here we are again at a song that hurts me so much. Kamikaze didn't feel like a very deep song for me for a long time, it was only through this most recent turn of events that I was able to really connect with it. It's a song about self destruction, and that's pretty obvious from the title. If you know what a kamikaze pilot is you'd get that message right away - and I did… but it didn't help me really understand the message.
For those who don't know, kamikaze pilots were members of Japan's air force in world war two who deliberately crashed their planes to cause maximum damage at the cost of their own life. Nick is relating his own behaviors in his life to those pilots. For me, when I first listened to song it felt like it was just as simple as "yeah, I'm ruining my own life." But, as I've come to realize about myself… ruining your own life often isn't without some meaning behind it.
For me, I've been digging my own grave in every relationship (romantic and platonic) for as long as I could remember. I held myself to insanely high standards that I'd never hold anyone else to. If I wasn't good at something, it would feel like a reflection on me as a person. I had to be perfect and strong and okay all of the time, I had to be the rock for everyone else. If I slipped up, if I showed weakness or vulnerability… I couldn't be that rock for everyone else. I couldn't see that that behavior was self destructive.
I had people in my life that wanted so badly to be there for me when i was hurting. They wanted to pull on the yoke before my plane crashed and I ended up hurt, but I locked them out of the cabin. Some people could see that my plane was heading for a brick wall and jumped early, but others stayed and hoped I'd open the doors… but it was too late. The plane crashed and everyone involved ended up hurt. But… even now, when they've boarded their own planes and left me with the rubble and smoldering wreckage of my vessel… they want me to be able to fly it again.
This song stands as a reminder for me that I don't have to be a kamikaze pilot. I don't have to do everything on my own and be a perfect person. Every pilot no matter how experienced will be hit with turbulence. It's not a matter of if, but when. And, when that does happen, I don't have to surrender to it, I can ask for help. It will take me some time to rebuild by plane, but when it's ready… They'll be there for me. This song is a warning of where I could end up if I don't let people in.
Tiger Teeth
Tiger Teeth is a song that the fandom absolutely adores, and for good reason! It's the perfect encapsulation of what it's like to fall in love and have your heart broken. It has vivid imagery and the emotions it evokes are visceral. I'm not sure there's another song that captures the bittersweet feelings of a breakup better.
The minute long instrumental opening gives the listener time to reflect. It doesn't try to distract you from your feelings, but it isn't downright sad either - it's a somber tune that reflects the feelings you're about to go through. The first verse then leans into the yearning that accompanies all breakups. Through tears in your eyes, you tell the person you loved that they can't come in… even if you want them to be there, you know it would only hurt more. The second verse grows more firm, establishing boundaries. Don't call me, don't make plans with my friends, leave me alone… Not because I hate you, but because I know that I'll always love you, and I can't go through this pain forever.
Falling in love with someone can be so all consuming, and the chorus reflects this so well. Your become swallowed by your love, but you also end up swallowing a lot yourself - in my case, I was choking down my every insecurity and tried to hide them. But, I couldn't swallow them, I ended up choking. That version of me didn't manage to survive, it died with the end of the relationship, her heart pierced and bleeding out over the floor.
Now, you could call me delusional, but I don't think this song is necessarily trying to say that all relationships that end are meant to end forever. Take the ending of the second verse, to me… it reads as hopeful. If you take a step closer, I could reach you again. We'll be leaning over the water and holding our breath. Attempting to make it work isn't without risk, but… you don't know if you don't try.
As I write this, I do recognize that I'm reading much more hope into the message of the song that it intended. But, I can't help it. Her tiger teeth have sunk into my heart, even in this new life that I'm trying to build for myself. I can't just just ignore the scars. Maybe in time I'll be able to let go, but the hope that I can rebuild with her… that helps me keep going, at least for now.
The Sound of Awakening
Talk about songs I didn't get when I first listened to them. This was always an immediate skip back in the day. A weirdly slow and experimental seven minute long song was NOT something I was prepared to engage with back in the day. Even just going back to my last visit to rock bottom, this song still threatened to challenge me in ways I wasn't ready for. In some ways… I'm not sure I even understand exactly what this song is trying to say even now.
The song repeatedly brings up the ideas of waking up, of being reborn, of seeing the world in a brand new way for the first time. The idea that you aren't stuck being the person you currently are. That's a very powerful message to me, someone who has more or less been stuck in the head space and thought patterns developed at a younger age, unable to grow past them without doing a lot of difficult work on myself. But… I can change, I can grow… I can hear the sound of awakening if i just listen hard enough, if I can hear the voices I've been avoiding for ages.
The repeated lines of "The distance and the difference between us is just illusion" are also some real gut punchers. Sure, there are going to be differences between everyone - the ways we were raised, the specific struggles we have to battle - but at the end of the day, we're all just humans. Those differences aren't as significant as we might want to make them seem, not when you really get down to the roots. We all want to be loved, to feel important, to make some kind of difference in the world. We can either lock on to the differences and believe they make our ideas incompatible, or we can use them as a jumping off point to further out understanding of each other and ourselves. Because, at the end of the day, those differences are just illusions, and once we can see through them… we have a clearer image of the world around us.
Feels Good to be High
We've been through a LOT of self reflection and question asking, so this song serves as a bit of an emotional rest. It's a simple, upbeat song about the joys of relaxing and getting high… and that's more or less it.
Or is it? If you listen to the song on it's own, yeah, it's a pretty simple and straightforward song. But, in the larger context of the album, I do think it's trying to impart a very important lesson - and one that I myself struggle with. While it's important go through the hard work of questioning yourself and facing your demons, you can't do that all of the time. Self compassion is a monumentally important skill to develop if you want to be a well rounded person.
Putting too much pressure on yourself, pushing yourself to be a perfect person… it won't lead you to being perfect. All it will lead to is burning out, slipping up, and hiding it from the people who care about you. Life isn't meant to be lived perfectly, everyone is bound to make mistakes and experience things that challenge them. Do what you can to improve yourself, but you have to remember to live and be happy. Even when it's hard, even when you're hurting… everyone deserves a chance to find happiness.
Can't Sleep (Wolves)
We've made it to the point in the album where Nick has asked all of the questions he intended to ask, but there are some ideas worth revisiting. Here, we are once again challenging the expectations put on ourselves, be they real or imagined. The first verse and first half of the pre-chorus are warnings / orders we're expected to listen to. Love your friends and family, but don't be overbearing; get up and make your bed, be cool and funny, etc. Then the second half of the pre-chorus comes in and says "I can't do it."
In the age of social media, the pressure to present yourself as a perfect person is stronger than ever. The possibility of millions of people seeing you slip up and be an imperfect person is paralyzing. The expectation to be perfect will only ever serve to bog you down, and eventually you're going to crack under that pressure - the wolves are going to get you.
The chorus explores the idea of keeping secrets, and I can interpet it in two ways. On one hand, you have to expect that people will keep some secrets from you, and you can't let that bother you so much. Everyone will have things they want to keep to themselves for one reason or another, and that isn't a sign that they don't trust you or don't love you - some things people need to handle on their own. On the other hand, it can be read as a warning. Sometimes you might need that honesty from someone, the worry that those secrets may cause you can keep you from being okay. I think it's an overall message to be more open and communicative with the people in your life, to accept that some secrets are meant to kept to yourself, but you should still tell people when you need more honesty from them… and a reminder that maybe you shouldn't keep some of your secrets from others for the same reason. Let people know when you're struggling, don't keep everything so close to your chest. You never know how much other people will be there for you if you don't let them in.
In My Mind
Here we revisit the ideas presented in Tiger Teeth - letting go of a lost loved one. Where Tiger Teeth had a little bit of plausible deniability that maybe you could go on and reforge that broken bond… this song is more about the difficult realization that the path forward won't involve the other person. He's cut her out of his life, the pain was too much, and he needs her out of his mind.
This is a message that I do think is worth repeating, it's a notoriously hard message for people to accept. It should be painfully obvious to anyone reading that it's something I don't want to accept in my own life. You can try as hard as you might, but eventually you'll be an empty book with nothing left to say… and if you're at that point, you do need to say goodbye.
There's no clear path forward in these situations, no one-size-fits-all solution to moving on. The bridge explores that excellently with the repetitive use of "maybe." Maybe if I find someone else, maybe if I move, maybe if I'm richer… It doesn't say that those are the answers, they're questions. What will it take for you to be able to move on and find happiness? That's something only you can figure out.
Lost in the Wild
Thematically, we have reached this album's magnum opus. It revisits so many ideas previous songs have brought up, and it tries to let the listeners leave with a sense of purpose and motivation.
Starting off, it's a reflection on how we got to this point in the first place. Looking back on the mistakes we made, and the efforts we tried to save ourselves from the pain. This process can be disorienting and overwhelming, and much like abstract art… you only get as much out of it as you put in. You need to find the meaning in all of this mess somehow, even when you don't really like the final message.
The chorus then encourages you "get lost in the wild." The forest is burning, but don't let that stop you. Brush the ashes off and keep running, you'll find your path and your purpose eventually. You'll be lost for a while, but that's okay - we're all lost in the forest together.
Verse 2 explores the idea of not wanting to give up on someone. Sometimes you'll get the feeling that maybe, though this person isn't in your life anymore, maybe they can be there again in the future. They've left you clues, signs that some day the relationship can be rebuilt. But, first you need to find your way out of the forest, you need to find yourself and your purpose. But, just because you made it out of the forest once, that doesn't mean you shouldn't get lost again. Maybe you should both get lost in the forest together, find a way to survive and live together, in a new and healthier way.
I don't think that interpretation is me just being delusional again (though I most certainly am). The bridge repeats the line "you belong out here with me," directly implying that he doesn't want to give up on this person. But this time, it's not a delusion that things can return to the old normal, but can become something brand new. It's a declaration that nothing is ever truly over, that nothing is ever broken for good. The connections we make in life are complex and multi-dimensional, and with enough reflection and growth… anything is possible.
I couldn't think of a better song to end this album with. It's asked the listeners to be vulnerable and honest with themselves, to put in the hard work of recognizing that there's always more to be done to be a better version of yourself. That's hard, and it's so easy to feel overwhelmed and like the work that needs to be done is too much. But, by ending with a song that emphasizes hope and a brighter future, it makes that work seem so much more doable. Even some of the messages that the listeners might struggle with, it makes them feel like maybe they're possible - or another option is present altogether.
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Overall, I have so much love for this album. It's not the easiest album to engage with, it really asks you to meet it on its level. But, if you're able to engage with the ideas it's putting forward, you can get so much out of it. Even if you aren't able to level with the heavier questions it asks you to think about, the music stands well on its own. Walk the Moon have always excelled in that aspect - something I plan on discussing more in future reviews of their other albums. I'm not sure there's another album that does everything What if Nothing does with the care, tact, and thoughtfulness shown here. This is an album that stands tall as a unique work of art that I'll be coming back to time after time, learning more about myself with each listen.
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Introductions
Hello there, you lovely and likely non-existent readers! I'm Avi, a 27 year old trans woman with many thoughts and no where to put them... until now >:)
I fully do not expect this blog to take off in any capacity, but I need some excuse to start writing things. Let me tell you, my previous writing outlet was making overly long twitter threads that got no attention. This will be a much better form of no attention, I'm sure of it.
I don't really have goals for this blog, it's just a place for me to publish the things that buzz around my brain. Be it reviews of media that are not timely whatsoever (e.g. a 7 year old album that no one cares about), rebuttals to bad takes I see on twitter (with cited sources because I'm a disgusting scholarly fool), or just like... I don't know, dawg, whatever I feel like word vomiting about?
I'm always open to conversations about the things I write, so feel free to send me a DM if you want to chat.
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