#LIKE THAT'S THE FIRST LINE IN THE SONG... Sonic is ALREADY free. You know who isn't and is doing everything in order to be free?

[moodlesmain]

What I'm Made Of (Sonic Heroes OST) 🤝 With Me (Sonic and the Black Knight OST): Final boss songs who's lyrics apply almost just as much to Sonic as they do to the villain he's facing

[maplethedarkshine]

The true chaos

Crack theory/headcanon/Somewhat of an au(?)/insane rambling/character analysis

Ok so I WILL do a crackshit theory about how Sonic is actually just the positive manifestation of chaos and this the same being

First one to say "so this is just the Kirby lore" will be sent to the guillotine /j

This is barely a theory, I'll basically be 10% making actual points and 90% just saying stuff because it sounds narratively cool

Obligatory "English isn't my first language don't give me shit if something is written poorly"

OK SO CHAOS AND SONIC PARALLELS

Letting Sonic speak for himself for a moment, the game itself brings to life the parallels this is not something I'm pulling out of my ass

They're both one in the same as the song says, forces of chaos (literally) that do what they think is right, the only difference is that Chaos' heart is tinted with pain, and as the song itself says, evil, while Sonic is devoid of it, and in a way, pure

Also line from the song that always stuck up to me:

"I'm not gonna think this way nor will I count on others"

Which is such an odd thing for Sonic to say, right? Why wouldn't he count on others? In the game the other characters are who gathered the chaos emeralds and the people cheering him up is what got him to transform into super sonic

Except that's wrong, because what Sonic's doing there is appealing to his feelings, because he understands Chaos' reasoning

That first part, "I'm not gonna think this way", because he can't say he gets how he feels. Again, he's devoid of that pain that's been tormenting Chaos for thousands of years by this point. He's not delusional, he know there's no way he can say with a straight face that he gets it.

What he does understand is that narrow-mindness, because he's like that too.

Just like the game itself says, both are using the same power, just one the negative energy of the emeralds and the other the positive

Two sides of the same coin

What's the difference between the two then? That Chaos has closed himself out from the world and let himself be consumed by pain, while Sonic has... His heart opened.

The entire Song is Sonic trying to appeal to Chaos to "Open his heart". Because he knows that trapping him back on the master emerald would only make it all worse, because such a free spirit like he knows that the worst thing you can do to another is removing that freedom to them, and because what got Chaos to be so corrupted is exactly being trapped- not only in a physical sense, but in a phycological way

He trapped himself. And while on the boss battle the only thing that happened was Sonic beating the shit out of him until he got it, the song tells another story

To make first point short: Open your heart itself makes parallels from the two and directly says they're in a way one in the same, both set on their ways, and Sonic gets Chaos to a point, and that's why he can't let him have his way, because he's trapped, and he needs to be set free from that hatred to be able to make a decision. And once he is, his decision is to stop the destruction leave peacefully

For a so claimed "God of destruction", destruction isn't his natural way if being, it got imposed to him; chaos is neither a good or a bad force of nature, it just is. And for a being literally named by it, he seemed to only embody the negative parts of it...

So where is the positive part of chaos?

On Sonic.

Sonic is Chaos. Sonic is the good of Chaos, the good that got banished from him the day the echidnas got too greedy with power

Ever thought how curious is that SA1 was the first game were Sonic has green eyes? Green as in the same color of Chaos' eyes? Green as in "they're both blue and green they have almost the same color palette"? Or green as in the color of the master emerald, mainly notorious for its connections to Chaos?

Also outside of the things Open your heart already implies, there's so more parrales between the two...

I mean, being of water vs guy infamous for not going well with water can't get more obvious than that

Sonic is, as a character, meant to be the representation of freedom, that's where the comparison to wind comes from... And what's more free than chaos? No direction, doing whenever you want as you wish, isn't that what Sonic is? He's notorious for never calling himself a hero, one of his more iconic phrases "what you see is what you get, just a guy who loves adventure"

Sonic is chaos (the concept) on the way that he's freedom, doing as he pleases, liberating, never changing his ways

Chaos (the character) is chaos (the concept) on the way that he's directionless, he's destructive, and never changing his ways

Sonic is Chaos (the character), because they represent the same concept on different ways

Sonic already has a villain to present the danger of order (Dr. Eggman, aka: mr control freak), so Chaos presents the dangers of chaos. "Do as you please" and "Keep your convictions straight" sounds good on paper until those convictions leeds you to hurt people and doing whenever you want leads you to causing pain and suffering.

Because thinking of it, Chaos had good intentions- he was protecting the chao from the echidna tribe that were hurting them for selfish reasons- he was protecting them, but after that? After that it was simply rage for the sake of rage- he flooded a city full of people that weren't even born when the incident happened and have nothing to do with it- people DIED, yet he wasn't changing his ways- his convictions never changed, and since he still thought the Chao were endangered he did what he did last time: protect

Those are, in paper, the same principles as Sonic on Sonic and the black night: do what you think is right, no matter if that will make some see you as the villain... Except what Chaos did is CLEARLY different and wrong

Because, as much as they're both selfish (selfish as in "most Decisions they make are purely based on what they want"), Sonic is coming from love and Chaos from hatred. On paper maybe Sonic could be seen as selfish (example: leaves station square as soon as Chaos is defeated because the rebuilding is no longer his problem) yet his heart is always on the right place. And maybe he just does whenever he wants, but what he wants is what's good for the people, so his selfishness turns him into a selfless being. Chaos is "doing whenever he wants" from a misguided place: he thinks he's doing what's the best for the Chao, just like Sonic does what's best for the people, when in reality the Chao don't even need him to do allat. Even if he's running by instinct, he's not achieving what he's trying to get, and his selfishness is just that- selfish, even if it came from a selfless core

Sonic's motto is basically to help the world only when it can no longer help itself, while Chaos "helps" it when the help is not only no longer needed, but actively just making it all difficult to the ones he's trying to protect, THAT'S were they differ

That's why, while both "selfish", one his presented as clearly right and the other clearly wrong. Because Sonic knows what he's doing, while Chaos is too blinded to see the truth. But once he gets some sense to him and sees that the chao are ok he does the exact same thing as Sonic: he simply leaves. Doesn't stay to try to fix what he did, because he knows that at this point the world can help itself, and he won't do the same mistake he did of trying to help at a point where is no longer needed

Sonic got him to open his heart (I'm so sorry for bringing it up so much I just love the song-)

Ok, so we got to how Sonic and Chaos are the same in a thematic way. Cool. That's nice

Now here's why Sonic and Chaos are literally the same person

Now this part I don't have as solid as an argument so take is as more lf a fun AU thing

Early jp classic Sonic was very much treated like a fairy-tale character. A mystical creature that would appear and disappeared when the adventure is over, and even in more modern games he's sort of like that (come on guys he's literally summoned from the sky in SatBk how more obvious can it get...?)

He's, in most game characterizations, a flat character. He doesn't grow because he doesn't NEED to grow. He seems to be inmune to corruption (Examples: In unleashed he's unaffected by dark gaia's influence outside of becoming more furry. On frontiers he smiles through the pain to the point Sage questions him what the hell he's doing) He's unable to be corrupted, as he's usually not the one to learn something from the story, rather the one delivering the lesson to another character (ak: Sonic 2 him indirectly giving confidence to Tails by just being there. Sonic and the secret rings he being what brought Sara our of her toxic relationship. The one SatBK monolog everyone already knows)

Sonic is a lot of things, a lot of them bad: impatient, a bit of a brat, annoying, but on top of everything he's pure. Sonic is incapable of evil. And thus him not changing his ways ever is GOOD

Chaos IS corruption, as in that's what defines the his character and character arc- because he's, unlike Sonic, NOT a flat character, in fact he's the one that receives the lesson by Sonic in Sa1

He's also treated as this mystical being, except that instead of being a fairly-tale it's a prophecy of a disaster. Chaos is not only capable of evil, but rather he IS evil itself for a good part of the story, and thus him not changing his ways is BAD, even if it goes under the same core premise as Sonic's motto of freedom- a decision made from blinded pain is not a decision made in your full freedom after all

That evil is not inherent to him; once again, it was imposed- forced onto him. And when he got purified... What is his role on the next time he happens to appear in the story, when he's given the freedom of actually choosing without being tied down by the chains of old wounds? To only make himself known when the master emerald is in danger (said in Sonic battle and the sonic forces comic prequel)

On other words, he only helps when the world can't help itself

He literally turned into Sonic the moment his heart was devoid of evil

Sonic was not only reaching out to Chaos, he was reaching out to himself- a part of him he never got to terms with, as "hate" is not something he's capable of, not in this form. He not only helped Chaos, but he also processed that hate- a hate that he never got to experience, but it's indirectly "his"

... Except it's not his and never was his

Because of course, realistically, IF this theory/headcanon was right, Sonic would see himself and Chaos as different beings. Because who cares of what was before? Yeah, what IF he came from the guy? He's no longer that person, and be will not get tied by boring concepts as the strings of the past

This is a kind of Solaris Mephiles-iblis situation, except while Mephiles is obsessed with being "one in the same" and "complete" again, Sonic will give the autonomy to Chaos to decide to be his own being. Sonic is Sonic and Chaos is Chaos, he will not do any attempt to go back to being "complete", because he already IS completely, and then he helped Chaos be complete to... Why change what's not broken?

Chaos is happy being a guardian of the master emerald and Sonic himself is happy just being some guy who loves adventure. To make them go back to what was before would be to force a sense of order on two beings of chaos, which is counterproductive. I'm sure none of the two would agree with it

If, as Open your heart says, the fundamental difference between Sonic and Chaos is one being trapped by hatred and the other devoid from it, and then the moment Chaos is set free from that feeling he takes an almost identical fairy-tale like creature role Sonic also has... Then what does that mean?

Perfect Chaos is a fake god because he's not truly "perfect", the resentment is what's keeping him from it, and the moment he lets go of it he truly reaches the perfect state of chaos... And basically turns to Sonic

Sonic is perfect chaos, as he's the good of it

Ever wondered where he comes from? Game Sonic never ever had an origin story, at best an "He comes from Christmas island, no we will not tell you or show you ever where or what Christmas Island is"

He doesn't seem to have parents or an origin story. As far as the world is concerned there's been this blue hedgehog wandering around and randomly helping people then disappearing to never be seen ever again. Ever since that Dr. Robotnik guy has been causing trouble the hedgehog has always been there to stop him, as if he came out of nowhere... As if he spawned thin air

And perhaps that's the easiest reasoning. Perhaps he DID come out of nowhere. Because you can't keep trapped chaos (the concept). It WILL find a way to get out, and it won't listen to you, and it's only agenda is to oppose order

And what happens when a destructive force comes and imposes order on the world? In a way Eggman created his worst enemy... Sa1 was not the first time he liberated Chaos

Because when the world needed him the most it brought back his ashes to life into a form devoid from the hatred and pain that caused his perish on the first place. Made the good that was vanished from his heart and the kindness forced out of him into a being of flesh and bone. And from his wounds of the past there'll be something beautiful for the present. The pureness that the echidnas took away from him so many years ago will be reborn

There'll be brought chaos

They'll ne brought freedom

There'll be Sonic, Sonic the hedgehog

[teamaerialcombo]

HI! HI! I'M THE GUY FROM AO3 IF IT WASN'T OBVIOUS FROM MY CRUSH 40 THEMED BLOG!!

(note . i might be reaching with A LOT of this stuff but this is MY special interest and hyperfixation and i get to say what i want. also i think you'd understand what i mean when i say things)

so, let's get one thing out of the way. on it's own, i am all of me is both a v1 song and a gabriel song on their own in my head

^ this, to me, is v1. the "black writing" in my head is directed towards the writings found on the murals of gabriel in 4-3. "unleashed a million faces / and one by one they fall" all the husks and demons in hell being there for who knows how long, before the machines (or in this case, just v1) come around and start killing them all off. in the grand scheme, v1 is the villain in this story (killing the denizens of hell without mercy, even with a reason thats still a villain), the "black hearted evil", but at the end of the day is still the protagonist, the "brave hearted hero"

^ and this is gabriel. it REALLY reminds me of his monologues to v1, but the beginning is what really sells it. those first two lines really encapsulate who he is as a character, or at least who he was before v1 came around- a weapon for the council (who, if you REALLY wanted to reach for it can also be seen as the evil in this case, and these two lines can be seen as him killing the council). "i laugh and watch you fall" can be seen as the fight in 6-2, going from a accusatory anger to manic laughter. and again, story-wise, gabriel is the antagonist, the main person against the protagonist, v1 (and also was the villain of the past lore, killing off minos & sisyphus most notably when they tried to make hell better). but he's the "hero" of this story (if you think more towards just the current part of ultrakill and not the past lore that takes place beforehand), trying to stop the villain, v1.

now, how does this all tie into gabv1el? simple. two different things. one, i like thinking about how those two verses mentioned above would play out if they said these things to one another, especially with gabriel's end. the manic laughter he has in 6-2 is probably one of the strongest forces the gabv1 fanbase has to show the canonicity of the ship, and "i laugh and watch you fall" really reflects there to me

but also the chorus of the song is? very gabv1 in my head?

like this really reminds me of the almost. i don't want to say OBSESSIVE nature of gabv1el since i know they can be a lot more than that but that's definitely slightly part of it. their obsession with each other that drives them closer (pun only slightly intended) to one another. "capture you or set you free" too. it can be seen from either perspective of the two. for v1, kill gabriel like its programming wants it to or let him live. for gabriel it's the same- kill v1 like how he was supposed to although, now he really has no reason to do so), or let it live to keep observing it and watching its movements and actions (which we have slight proof of him already doing! his dialogue in 6-1). you could also see "can you see all of me? / walk into my mystery" as gabriel talking to v1. he knows about v1 but v1 doesn't know about him. as you play the game more you learn about him through terminals, so by that logic v1 ALSO learns as it progress more, or "walks" into the mystery.

this part also applies to what was said above^

anyways! all in all i think this song for SURE is v1 & gabriel respectively and if you really reach it can be gabv1el. there's definitely crush 40 songs that are more gabv1el than this one (like down & dirty or 2 nights 2 remember) but hey. it's a fun challenge to connect just about anything to crush 40 whenever possible :p

hope you enjoyed my deranged sleep-deprived late-at-night rambles LOLL this was a fun one to yap yap yap about

dude i literally need Everyone to see this analysis. it is So Epic. i get you op i rlly do [shakes your hand in being a sonic & ultrakill fan]

[summers-art]

I know there’s some good Metamy juice in it so I’m gonna ask an explanation for Love Like you please.

🎵Song #35 Love Like You by Rebecca Sugar 🎵[Full playlist]

YEAAAA! We're at the end so what's more fitting than to have a literal end credit song to wrap everything up with? This one is specifically from Volume 2 which is different, it has this longer intro which I love the build up for and though not all the verses but the ones that are there are the most important so it's still perfect lyrically. I also mentioned this in the prev post but I also just really wanted this song bc of how it sounds musically. I have my playlists on repeat and this song flows very well back into Song #1 Digital Love which was epic, the ride never ends baby!!!

SO! Before we end the story there has been a time skip from the prev song #34 Too Long, that's the only way that song makes sense to me, as things seem to finally look bright again. Overcoming the strings and wires, if not fully then at least enough to feel like Metal is at the place he wants to be, which would then be with Amy. This song is sweet but it's not like a "I'm 100% fine and everything is okay now" way, the past hasn't been magically erased and there is still work to do after all. But at least it's hopeful! Though I love my drama, angst, divorce and bittersweet endings I decided to go with something more positive here... I can't help it that I am a true hopeless romantic at heart 🩷🥹

LYRICAL BREAK DOWN BELOW 👇

I just want to push again on the build of this song, I LOVE THE AMBIENCE, THE VIBE. The slow build up is so tasty, literally half of the song is just instrumentals until the lyrics finally kicks in 1,5 minute in after this building crescendo it's awesome. Also the dolphin cries in the bg are so funny, I love you whoever mixed this, that's so epic.

I always thought I might be bad Now I'm sure that it's true 'Cause I think you're so good And I'm nothing like you

I like that the first lines are already like a sledgehammer to my heart. Like OOOOKAY BESTIEEEE, yea you kind of did do all that horrible shit as part of the villain team and being a pawn for Eggman and almost ending the whole world as Metal Overlord or whatever- BUT COME ON, IT'S OKAY BABY GIRL DON'T BE SO HARD ON YOURSELF. It's totally okay to commit all those crimes because you looked cool while doing it, just look at Neo's highlights they slay 💅 (I'M JOKING, MAYBE)

Also comparing yourself to Amy Rose is just asking yourself to lose tbh. She is a beacon of pure love and hope, stubbornly and fiercely so, she's so awesome. No one does it like her. I wouldn't say they have nothing in common, but from Metal's view there might be little to nothing (because you're gay and putting your crush on a pedestal, girl...) The only way to fix this; time to learn some compassion!!! Download it, google is free 💾

Look at you go I just adore you I wish that I knew What makes you think I'm so special

CRYING, PUNCHING THE WALL, CRIES MORE 😭😭 Amy is so stubborn of course she wouldn't be the first one to give up on someone. Metal has tried and failed and tried and failed- and yet here she is! Still by his side!! I don't think he could ever really figure out exactly why she would do that, but it certainly means the world to have someone who refuses to give up on you. Eggman is also stubborn, but the "love" he gives feels very conditional and well- artificial? Compared to what she would be able to give.

I also think that any previous jealousy or doubt that Amy was just dating Metal Sonic because she couldn't have the Real Sonic (eluded to most heavily in #8 Washing Machine Heart: "I know who you pretend I am / Do mi ti / Why not me?") have been wiped away at this point. Spending enough time with Metal it's clear they are two different people who are both worthy of love in their own way for being who they are 💙

If I could begin to do Something that does right by you I would do about anything I would even learn how to love

There is something about Amy specifically befriending robots that is just really cute to me, starting all the way back with Gamma. Girl has a heart so big she can turn the machines into people capable of love. She has the power of love and incredible violence with her hammer on her side. Iconic, tbh 🙂‍↕️

"I can fix him" actually succeeds in fixing him. LMAO, nah its not that simple. I think Metamy could easily slip into that trope, but I would argue that here it's more that it's more about inspiring someone to be better. Like the lyrics say that about making better choices and taking action, instead of someone else fixing their messes and forgiving every single wrong doing that would actually make them not have to change their previous behavior at all.

When I see the way you look Shaken by how long it took

HEY, THERE IS THE THING I TALKED ABOUT BEFORE so I'll just keep it brief! A callback to Tomorrow Comes Today as well as Too Long, the two songs before this. Which also!! Makes the timeskip thing also makes the most sense. ...How long is the timeskip? Shit, idk, however long I need it to be 🤷 I'm open for suggestions lmao, but leaving it up in the air is fun so anyone can decide on how old the robot yuri should be. It ages like a fine wine, I think.

I could do about anything I could even learn how to love like You You You You

Crazy thing with this version of the song, and not just the intro, is that it SKIPS the line: "Love me, like you" but I think it's kind of appropriate here tbh. Self-love is important, and tying it with Metal's whole identity crisis arc makes sense and here it hasn't been completely resolved even at the end of the story. That is something that still needs work because that shit takes time especially, after all the shit they've been through. A relationship might not magically fix it but I don't think it will hurt it either. Like, I kinda hate the saying that at least floated around when I was growing up about "Ooh, you need to learn to love yourself before you can love others <3" like... HUH?? As if people who are struggling with mental health and/or trauma that makes loving yourself difficult can't be allowed to fall in love or be loved in a relationship, like lol, lmao even, miss me with that shit.

Metal continuing his arc about finding an identity outside of Sonic sounds like something that Amy could help with a lot, like- GIRL SHE'S BEEN THROUGH THIS CIRCUS BEFORE. She was obsessed with him too after all and had to learn how to grow more independent. ALSO, I like to think Amy has some issues of her own with abandonment. Despite being so outgoing and loving she carries her own insecurities about "What if my friends are only friends with me because of Sonic? What if they don't actually care about me or want to have me around?" - which I don't think is true (Amy's friends love her very much), but how true something is doesn't always solve the problem if it's all in your own head, y'know? And though Metal might learn to tolerate Sonic's existence I still think he would hate him enough to make a fear like that a complete non-issue for Amy. So they could help each other a lot with their struggles me thinks, and that's sweet. Love that for this ship 🩷💙

These cartoon animals can be projected onto with so many real life struggles HAH, it makes them so #relatable. I love art, I love playing with my touys, we're having fun here 🫶😌 and I think I'm done rambling about why I love these two and this song for them heheh. THANK YOU TO WHOEVER ARE READING ALL MY RAMBLES, I HOPE YOU HAVE FUN WITH ME ❣️

[x--daughters-of-darkness--x]

In This Moment Release New Song ‘The Purge’ + Announce ‘GODMODE’ Album and 2023 Tour Dates

In This Moment have just released  their new single "THE PURGE" along with a music video directed by Jensen Noen (who has also created videos for Ice Nine Kills and Falling In Reverse). A co-headlining tour with Ice Nine Kills has also been announced.

The new track hails from the band's forthcoming new album GODMODE, their eighth, which the band just announced will arrive later this year on Oct. 27. The "Kiss of Death" tour, which kicks off on Nov. 3, will also feature special guests Avatar and New Years Day.

“We are thrilled to unveil 'THE PURGE' to everyone,” says vocalist Maria Brink. “I am so grateful for how everything flowed to bring this song to life, both sonically and visually. Kane Churko and Jensen Noen helped to create this musical & cinematic experience with us and we could not have done it without them. The underlying message of the song is to not fall too deeply into the rabbit hole, everything is about finding balance. I had a lot of emotions building within me when I approached the song for the first time and after years of holding it all in I finally got to let it out! Enjoy.”

"This song came from our time in lockdown. We all had our own personal experiences during the pandemic and we all saw the social unrest unfolding daily tearing us apart, it was such a crazy time,” says guitarist Chris Howorth. "Our band, like everything else, was stopped in its tracks. During the lockdown I was sending Maria musical ideas I was working on, and this one really resonated with her. She even said 'This is gonna be our first single’. Fast forward a couple years and all the pent up frustration and angst came pouring out in Maria’s lyrics and performance, creating this crazy visceral song.”

Along with new single comes  the details of GODMODE, including the album art and track listing, as well as the Kiss of Death Tour with Ice Nine Kills and New Years Day. Head below for all the details.

"THE PURGE" Lyrics

Pushing Like pudding Like butter Like gold You want to get the cash You want to get the fool You want to find a fake You want to be seen You want to blame an addict But you’re already a feen Fuck it The whole world‘s gonna see High off fumes Addicted to the feed What’s it all for Like you don’t really know Another on the hook and another Jane Doe You’re pushing back and forth and forth and back again. They said that you were free now you’re locked in a cage: You’re pushing lies like your life is on the line, you want to reason why and you’re begging for a sign.

Chorus Maybe, maybe we’re all fucked Maybe we’ll all burn Maybe we’ll all just purge and yeah Maybe we’ll all die Maybe they were right Maybe we’re all just parasites.

You're cutting like glass Like needles Like knifes You want to get the girl You want to win the fight You want to be a god You want to be a star You want to blame another But this time you went too far Fuck it The whole worlds gone mad High of smoke Addicted to the fad What’s it all for Like I don’t really know Another in the bag & another Jane Doe You’re pushing back and forth and forth and back again. They said that you were free now you’re locked in a cage Your pushing lies like your life is on the line. You want a reason why & your begging for a sign. Chorus Maybe , maybe we’re all fucked Maybe we’ll all burn Maybe we’ll all just purge and yeah Maybe we’ll all die Maybe they were right Maybe we’re all just parasites. Bridge I can feel the purge I can feel a purge coming on Purge scream

Chorus Maybe, maybe we’re all fucked Maybe we’ll all burn Maybe we’ll all just purge and yeah Maybe we’ll all die Maybe they were right Maybe we’re all just parasites

[crimesididntcommit]

FIVE YEARS OF NOCTURNAL YOUTH. Five years ago today my first real, “canonical” album Nocturnal Youth came out.

I had put out a few collections of what were essentially sketches and demos back then, but …Youth was the first thing to feel like a genuine, realized artistic statement. It’s the album where I first figured out what it was that crimesididntcommit should be, a series of coarse, confrontationally confessional admissions of heartache, ugliness, self-loathing and despair. 

After messing around with a lot of instrumental, soundscape-y work out of anxieties around my voice (which was terribly underdeveloped) and embarrassment around putting my lyrics and feelings front and center, this came out of me. There’s nowhere for me to hide on it — from the first lines, “I only hurt you ‘cause you say that you like it,” to the last, “How long do we have? Do I have you?” — it’s an album that is painfully upfront. 

I didn’t plan on writing a lot about this record today, but it felt like too big an anniversary to ignore, and I hadn’t listened to it in years. The current incarnation of crimesididntcommit really begins with my album sentimental, but Nocturnal Youth is in many ways the blueprint that I would spend years sonically chasing and attempting to understand or perfect. I made the entire thing on an iPhone in GarageBand, singing half the vocals on smoke breaks at a dead end job in a dying, middle of nowhere mall. The store was going out of business; I’d just experienced a several-month breakdown and dissolution of a ten year friendship, a blossoming, toxic romantic relationship and the first circle of adult friends I had ever made as an openly trans woman. I had started the early, manic stages of a drug addiction that began right as I became equally addicted to another person, and both were now cut off from me. I was cutting myself regularly, new scars covering my upper arms all the time. Everywhere I looked seemed like another reason to drive into a wall, but my car had already exploded at 2 AM on a toll road after the radiator cracked and the engine head blew. 

Years later in accelerated resolution therapy I would recount standing over that SUV, lifting the hood as a toxic cloud of coolant and smoke rolled hot across my face and stuck inside my lungs, the perfect metaphor for how all of my life seemed to be at the time, but way before I started getting actual clinical help, I made this.

It’s surreal for me to listen to this album today, on Valentine’s of 2025. I know the girl who made it, but I’m not her almost at all anymore. I like her now more than she liked herself then. She was a completely unknowable, unmanageable, out of control lunatic in constant agony and radiating it out onto everyone else around her, but she was trying her best to feel alive against a brain that wanted her to die. 

For all the intense despair and misery and “just-let-me-die-please” energy eagerly polluting every track, I hear so much creativity, so many explorations and big swings. The vocals for the title track were sang while battling strep throat, laying on a torn up couch, eyes shut facing the ceiling. It’s an album full of sounds of dismantling machines — I’d run Korg synths through bookshelf speakers and record the results into an old phone mic, a process I still use sometimes today. I didn’t even have a real MIDI keyboard at the time, so I’d use the touch ribbon on the Volca Keys, a profoundly frustrating and limiting thing, and program loops until they sounded just one step away from falling apart. There are so many lyrics about feeling trapped — “towns like this have claws dug deep in our skin,” “here in our box, here in our cage, we’re still locked up, it still remains” — broiling with trauma, skin bubbling and blistering in the cigarette lighter dark. But I felt free when I was working on these songs, writing and rewriting lyrics again and again in spiral notebooks, scrawling and doodling and drawing the feelings of each song out. I would put sketches on printer paper over the blinking lights of synths to make them glow and stare at the color in the dark to try and heighten the mood I was capturing.

A song like “Scars” makes me want to give who I used to be a hug just as much as a slap to the face; it’s one of the most openly toxic, unstable, genuinely abusive things I’ve ever written, both towards myself and the people that inspired it. I just want to shake her by the shoulders and tell her to get it together, girl! I’m years away from that kind of behavior now, but I can remember laying in my art studio, carving up parts of my body, rubbing the bloody skin across canvases and sending photos to people, desperate for someone to see what I was going through and, if not save me, tell me I was okay. All of it was a desperation to feel like I could be okay. Listening to this song for the first time in years, I’m struck by how stark it actually is, incredibly minimal until the end sprint. There’s no resolution, there’s no comfort, there’s just a piercing, uncomfortable final cut before the end of the album.

The final song, “Electric You,” is, along with “Field of Fog,” the best of the album, and I love that it’s the ending. The mumbling, buried beneath the surface spoken word at the start are a frantic, manic plea to someone on an answering machine that you know they’ll never hear. (I didn’t actually leave that as a message on a machine, but that was the vibe I was going for.) I had come to the realization that I was wasting my time trying to get through to someone who didn’t want me to anymore, and so really, almost all of the lyrics referring to “you” on this album are towards a different side of myself. When I ask how long we have, I’m singing as much to an ex as I am to myself. Everything good felt so fleeting to me back then.

I remember standing in a parking lot behind a bar I used to loiter around when I took the cover photo. I had just been doing my drug of choice at the time and had cut my finger prepping it, not noticing until I’d already stepped out from the seat of someone’s car and lit a cigarette. It was October of 2019 and I felt like the whole world was about to end, somehow, someway. My entire life had an apocalyptic energy to it, and every time I went out, every night I spent at someone’s house, sleeping on a couch or floor or borrowed bed, felt like a party at the end of the world. I didn’t know how much longer I or anyone would be alive. These are the ways that mental illness color everything; it’s like looking at the world through a filter that turns it into a mirror, reflecting whatever it is you feel back. I don’t think that’s only true of people who are mentally ill or going through it — I genuinely believe all the concepts of karma and visualization and positive thinking are rooted in that, we find reflections of what’s inside of us wherever we go, and they can be beautiful. But at that point in time everything felt like a temporary, pointless parade in the dark, balloons about to be forgotten, half-deflated, sulking in the corner of the once-full room as the ghosts of who we once were moved along in shadow. I couldn’t think of a better cover for the record — a self-inflicted wound, a single hand reaching out in the dark, something smoldering, something that will only make you sick with time.

At some point in this period of time, I told someone who was very important to me and who I wish I still knew that I was thinking about calling my new album nocturnal youth. He looked at me and without pause said “Well, that’s what you are.” I think about that, and I think about him, and I think about all the other people I used to know but don’t anymore, most of that through my own faults, but some of them not, and I think about how this year I’ll turn 29, and how, five years ago, I was a nocturnal youth, and for at least the next year and a half, I still am, too. 

I’m just happier now.

It’s not a perfect record, and I’d never make it today, and that’s why I love it still. You can listen to it here: https://crimesididntcommit.bandcamp.com/album/nocturnal-youth https://open.spotify.com/album/32VeJbH6Awae2GK7YoiTEc?si=kZcAlNtUQ6asyMMAw3CHcA

[lynns-bonkle-blog]

If you want a little. Peek behind the curtain, here's what I assigned each option (and the reasoning for some):

Question 1: Choose a Sea Power song based on its name

Option order is randomised, this is just the order I put them in while making it.

Fire Escape In The Sea - Fire

Lakeland Echo - Water

Down On The Ground - Earth

Obverve The Skies - Air

The Land Beyond - Stone

Oh Larsen B - Ice (shout-out to anyone who knows why I assigned that element to this specific song)

We Are Sound - Sonics

Heavy Water - Gravity (because "heavy water" is another name for barium, which comes the same word as the Bionicle elemental prefix for Gravity, "Ba-")

Don't Let The Sun Get In The Way - Plasma

Want To Be Free - Magnetism (Sea Power don't really have any songs that fit with Gravity or Iron, at least on the albums that I've listened to)

Green Goddess - Plantlife

kW-h - Lightning

Folly - Iron (again, I don't know of many Sea Power songs that would fit Iron, and if they are they're either on one of the EPs that I haven't got around to listening to, or the first album which I honestly don't like)

Transmitter - Psionics

Question 2: Choose a weapon

Option order is randomised, this is just the order I put them in while making it.

Sword - Fire (the first six weapons are based on the Mata's Toa Tools, but this one kinda ended up being an accidental Tom Cardy reference because of the "Sword, fire!" line from #Inspirational)

Sickle - Water (I didn't want to make it too obvious, so where possible I avoided literally describing each Toa's tools but went with similar ones that are easier to imagine, like "hook" is kinda ambiguous and could be misinterpreted as meaning a hook-hand)

Axe - Air

Stone - Your hands (originally it was like. Armoured boots, but I changed my mind and went with this instead)

Shield - Ice (because I couldn't do "sword" again

Very Big Stick - Sonics (some of these are based on what their associated Toa carry, in this case Krakua; however, because I already did a sword, I just went with what Krakua's sword looks like to me)

Hammer - Gravity

Laser - Plasma

Railgun - Magnetism

Whip - Plantlife (because of the whole "vine-whip" concept)

Trident - Lightning (another "there is a canon Toa I based this one on", in this case Nikila)

Spear - Iron (I know Zaria's weapon is canonically a staff, but I headcanon it as looking like a spear)

Staff - Psionics (I forgot that Orde carried a mace, but also Psionics is kinda magic-coded)

Question 3: Choose a Minecraft biome

Option order is randomised, this is just the order I put them in while making it.

Nether Wastes - Fire

Warm Ocean - Water

Swamp - Earth

Jungle - Air

Badlands - Stone

Ice Spikes - Ice

Deep Dark - Sonics

Snow Slopes - Gravity (because you can roll down a slope I guess?)

The End - Plasma

Basalt Deltas - Magnetism

Birch Forest - Plantlife

Stony Peaks - Lightning

Dripstone Caves - Iron

Warped Forest - Psionics

Question 4: Choose a Fallout game

Fallout - Water, Psionics (I think that psychic powers are a thing in the earlier Fallouts? And the plot is about getting a water chip apparently)

Fallout 2 - Magnetism, Plantlife (can't remember why I went with Magnetism, but the Plantlife aspect is because of the GECK. I haven't played the first two Fallout games)

Fallout 3 - Earth, Iron (Earth because you're underground, Iron because Brotherhood of Steel)

Fallout: New Vegas - Fire, Stone (the Legion are associated with fire (and also it's a Western pastiche so there are guns™), and also Stone is kinda Bioniclese(?) for "deserts")

Fallout 4 - Plasma, Lightning (the Institute use a lot of energy-weapons (and even have their own unique variants of them), and from what I remember there is lightning)

Fallout 76 - Air, Gravity (the air part is just like. Because the world is nicer. Can't remember why I did gravity for this one, though)

None - Ice, Sonics (these were just ones that I couldn't think of a place for)

Question 5: What is your favourite colour?

Red - Fire

Orange - Stone

Yellow - Lightning

Green - Air

Turquoise - Plantlife

Water - Blue

Purple - Gravity

Pink - Plasma

Black - Earth

Grey - Sonics

White - Ice

Gold - Psionics

Silver - Magnetism

Bronze - Iron

Question 6: Which of the following Pokémon types is your favourite?

Option order is randomised, this is just the order I put them in while making it.

Normal - Sonics (people who say Pokémon should have a "Sound Type" are wrong)

Fire - Fire

Water - Water

Grass - Plantlife

Fightning - Gravity (because some martial arts incorporate gravity and momentum)

Flying - Air

Ground - Earth

Rock - Stone

Ice - Ice

Psychic - Psionics

Dragon - Plasma

Ghost - Iron (😈😈😈)

Steel - Magnetism

Electric - Lightning

Question 7: Half-full or half-empty?

Half-full! - Water, Air, Stone, Plasma, Plantlife, Lightning, Psionics

Half-empty! - Fire, Earth, Ice, Sonics, Gravity, Magnetism, Iron

Question 8: Pick a classic Doom weapon

Fist/Chainsaw - Ice, Gravity (gravity for the same reason as in Question 6; Ice because the Chainsaw can be used to stunlock certain enemies)

Pistol - Earth, Air (yeah a lot of these don't make sense)

Shotgun/Super Shotgun - Stone, Iron

Chaingun - Water, Psionics

Rocket Launcher - Fire, Magnetism

Plasma Rifle - Sonics, Plasma (because it's loud and plasma)

BFG-9000 - Plantlife, Lightning (the BFG's effects are green and have lightning-like effects)

Question 9: Which element do you hope you'll get?

Ok so this one is obvious (you get a point into whichever element you chose), but at one point I considered doing like. A thing where each one actually gave you points into other elements (either shifted forwards or being the "opposite" or whatever), but I realised that was just kinda mean so I didn't bother.

Bionicle element Uquiz! You don't need to know anything about Bionicle to participate.

[kingstylesdaily]

5 Takeaways From Harry Styles' New Album 'Harry's House'

Harry Styles' third album, 'Harry's House,' is further proof that he's found his lane since going solo — and that he's not an artist you can box.

TAYLOR WEATHERBY |GRAMMYS/MAY 19, 2022 - 11:22 AM

At this point, Harry Styles has made it very clear that he's come into his own as an artist. In the six years since One Direction's hiatus, he's worn a dress on the cover of a magazine, he's starred in major motion pictures, and he's headlined Madison Square Garden (multiple times). But he may have just delivered his biggest artist statement yet.

Styles' third album, Harry's House, is his most sonically diverse set, bringing fans deeper into his musical universe with entrancing production and liberated vocals. Sure, his 2017 self-titled debut and 2019's blockbuster Fine Line were a solid introduction to what he's capable of, but with Harry's House, he's seemingly never felt more free.

"My favorite thing about it is, it just feels the most like me," Styles told Apple Music's Zane Lowe. As Lowe himself asserted, "the Harry who sits before us all is not the same. You can hear it in the brand new album, Harry's House — the growth; it's a triumph."

Whatever you want to call it, Harry's House is a sign that Styles himself believes he has arrived. And — if you haven't already — he's ready for you to move in.

Below, here's five takeaways from Harry Styles' Harry's House:

[spoilers ahead] [spoilers ahead] [spoilers ahead] [spoilers ahead]

He Has Skeletons Left In The Closet

As anyone familiar with Styles' dating life may imagine, several songs on Harry's House tease that he is in love. Within the first minute of the album's first track, "Music For a Sushi Restaurant," he proclaims, "It's cause I love you babe/ In every kind of way"; in the first verse of "Grapejuice," he declares, "There's never been someone who's so perfect for me."

Yet, there's a looming sense of remorse across a majority of the album's 13 tracks. "I hope you're missing me by now," he sings in bouncy cut "Daylight," while the swirling "Satellite" opens with "You got a new life/ Am I bothering you?/ Do you wanna talk?"

Ironically, the track titled "Little Freak" is perhaps the most wistful on the entire LP. The whole song feels like a letter to a past lover, mostly reminiscent of their time together — until the bridge, where he owns up to his mistakes. "I disrespected you/ Jumped in feet first and I landed too hard," he sings. "A broken ankle/ Karma rules."

Styles may not give obvious context clues in any of these songs, but one thing is apparent: No matter where he stands in his love life now, he's clearly had some things to get off his chest.

He's Still On Team Women

Styles has always been vocal about his support for women, from calling young girls "our future" to wearing a shirt that reads "women are smarter." Thanks to Harry's House, he now has a song to show for it, too.

The somber ballad "Boyfriends" recognizes the faults of men in relationships, from taking their partner for granted to playing games. While Styles acknowledges that women may not always punish men for their wrongdoings ("You love a fool who knows just how to get under your skin/ You, you, you still open the door," he sings in the second verse), he made the song's main subject very clear upon debuting it at Coachella: "To boyfriends everywhere, f*** you."

Elsewhere, he shows empathy for a character from a troubled household on the poignant "Matilda" ("You can throw a party full of everyone you know/ And not invite your family/ Cause they never showed you love," he sings on the chorus). It may not be as direct of a feminist message, but further proves that he'll stand up for anyone mistreated.

"As It Was" Is The Most Radio-Ready Track

After Fine Line produced the funk-inspired jam "Adore You" and the catchy-as-ever GRAMMY winner "Watermelon Sugar," the stakes were high for his Harry's House lead single. And boy did he deliver: Not only is "As It Was" a synth-pop bop, but it broke records on Spotify and Apple Music and subsequently hit No. 1 in several countries upon its release.

Those looking for more "As It Was" types may be surprised upon diving into Harry's House, as the song is about as pop-leaning as the album gets. Though that's not to say that Harry's House won't spawn any more hits.

There's still plenty of infectious melodies on the album, particularly on "Late Night Talking," "Cinema," "Daydreaming," and "Daylight." Between disco grooves, roaring horns and '80s-style synths, most of the Harry's House tracks don't have the traditional formula of a commercial pop success — but with that, Styles may just reinvent what "radio hit" means in 2022.

It's His Most Genre-Bending LP Yet

While Styles' first two albums called back to the '70s and '80s pop/rock artists that have inspired him from the start — like David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, Joni Mitchell and Fleetwood Mac — the influences of Harry's House are a little tougher to pinpoint. Perhaps that's because, as he explained to Better Homes & Gardens, he didn't seek inspiration in any music at all.

As a result, Harry's House is quite the sonic evolution from his first two sets — and a funky one at that. There's so many layers of sounds across its 13 tracks that it feels as experimental as a Prince record, with touches of alt-pop, soul, new wave and folk. Every song features a synth (with the exception of the acoustic "Boyfriends"), each taking listeners on a new journey — from the burning bass of opener "Music For a Sushi Restaurant" to the subdued electronica of closer "Love of My Life."

Harry Is Simply Having Fun

If you've seen Styles in concert, you know that he is definitely doing what he loves. His performances are as electric as they come, bouncing around with a Jagger-esque swagger and a childlike spirit. And that was before he had this album.

Harry's House is a sonic manifestation of the energy he's brought to the stage, with one undertone across the entire project: fun.

Even in its more reflective moments, the album brings Styles more liberation than agony. Whether it's the in-your-face instrumentation, scintillating production or Styles' variations of falsetto, Harry's House feels like a giant party — one that the singer can't wait to throw over and over again.

via grammy.com

[hansoulchews]

Exile ft. Bon Iver (5/11 of Exile) | Vernon Chwe x reader

Pairing: Vernon Chwe x gn! reader / past Park Seo Joon x gn! reader

Genre: fluff, angst, strangers to lovers

Sypnosis: Famous singer-songwriter, y/n, quietly released an album 2 years after ghosting the music scene suddenly. After their infamous scandal in which y/n was videoed to be in an altercation with established actor, Park Seo Joon at a restaurant, y/n ceased all their music activities and went into hiding, refusing to comment further on the issue. Lucky for all you conspiracy theorists! It seems as though all the questions left unanswered in 2019 are finally addressed (or so we think!) in this unexpected album drop.

Warnings: None for this chapter

Series Masterlist | Next

In the only collaborative track, the lead singer of Bon Iver, Justin Vernon, lends his voice to Exile, an indie-folk gospel ballad song that encapsulated a bleak discussion of two estranged lovers who are at different points of a breakup, one being the person who has yet to move on, and the other already has. The fusion of y/n’s soft vocals with Justin’s deep baritone voice highlights the juxtaposition of two former lovers, having an unarticulated conversation of their past relationship. The song was structured in a call and response format, funnily, as the artists sing about the lack of communication that lead to their dismay. It is safe to say, this song showcases the sonic beauty of y/n’s musicality.

August 2019

“That’s literally the worst way someone can pour wine,” Minghao said in a deadpanned voice. You cackled, knowing that you have successfully riled him up. In the past few months, you have been trying your best to integrate back into socializing with new people, mainly other Seventeen members as well as some other musicians. You have not dared to reach out to your friends in the acting industry, not knowing where you stand with them and what they thought of you.

Woozi and Hoshi helped you out a lot with this process. They slowly introduced you to Joshua and Minghao, knowing that their funny but calm demeanours were a good acclimation process to you befriending other (more active and talkative) members. Minghao was a friend who you never knew what to expect from. He was a silent menace who was unpredictable but hilarious. Both of you enjoyed online shopping together, roping each other to buy fashionable goods from the same sites, getting free shipping by default. (Yes, you both are millionaires, yes, free shipping is still greatly appreciated.)

With Joshua, you were able to speak more English, feeling glad that you could speak your other native language. Both of you would also exchange American pop culture references in these conversations. He was the most geeked out when you mentioned that you were working with Bon Iver for a song.

“I didn’t know you were even making records right now.” He said at your bi-weekly dinner get-togethers. “Hey, hey, no English in our presence please!” Hoshi screamed out from the kitchen.

“Y/N is making a song with this cool band, Bon Iver!” Joshua shouted back, looping Hoshi into the conversation. Hoshi came back out from the kitchen with a childish pout. “I remember when I used to be the first to get updates…” He sighed dramatically.

“I knew before Joshua.” Woozi purposely said, teasing Hoshi. Hoshi just pouted even more.

“Well, you, I understand because you were first in line as y/n’s friend, but Joshua? Unforgivable!”

Joshua just rolled his eyes teasingly as you simply smiled widely at the scene before you. Joshua turned back to you and said (in Korean for the benefit of everybody), “So, how’s the recording process like so far?”

“I’ve got the lyrics and Justin and I have been exchanging ideas on how his lyrics could go. He’s writing his and I’m making revisions on mine.”

You had been hesitant at opening the can of worms that was your relationship with Seo Joon. But penning down your thoughts and expressing them through the best way you know how — songwriting and composition, had been a cathartic experience that helped you process how you used to feel back in the relationship, how you were feeling about the break up and now, the aftermath.

It’s a bit painful to see Seo Joon on screens and billboards. It’s not that you missed him or anything, but the reminder of these grand gestures of reverence towards him made you inevitably gaslight yourself. Was it you who overreacted? Did you make the wrong decision? Were you too hard on him?

You felt isolated and in exile. It was hard to see the man who caused you so much pain, hurt, anger and frustration being loved irrevocably by basically everyone. And he’s still getting gigs. The Divine Fury, a cameo in a distinguished film, Parasite, not to mention the remnants of how good his performance in What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim that is still securing him for roles in Kdramas. And here you are, having articles putting you on blast for pouring ramen on him and people reducing your craft and talent to a manipulative tactic to lure men in as your lovers only to break up with them as a source of inspiration for your next album.

“That’s really cool. Are you planning to make an album?” Minghao chimed in. You shrugged.

“It’s just one track. I don’t know if I’m brave enough to put myself out there just yet.”

Present

Hansol reached his hand out to you. You grabbed it to stabilize yourself. His other hand was holding the picnic basket, filled with sandwiches, some canned drinks, pastries and chips.

“You alright?” He checked in with you. Both of you decided to hike up another trail on a cool Saturday morning. This trail wasn’t as intense as some of the trails you frequently took with Hoshi and Woozi.

“Yeah, it’s been a while since I’ve gone hiking.” Hansol hummed as he slowed his steps down to match your pace. He knew you were cooped up in the studio, finalizing the album the past 2 months. Now that it’s out, he decided that it was time to celebrate it by doing something you loved.

You finally reached an area with relatively flat ground and decided to set up your small picnic there. Hansol opened a can of coke for you and handed it to you. You smiled softly.

“How are you feeling baby?” Hansol broke the silence after giving both of you a moment to enjoy the scenery.

“I’m okay. I’m pretty nervous about the live performance though.”

“The one at Yu Huiyeol’s Sketchbook right?” He recalled the conversation you had with him about the premiere of the live performances for the songs in the album.

You nodded. You were slowly refamiliarising yourself with the schedules you used to have when you were an active musician. It was inevitably overwhelming but Hansol was there throughout the process, supporting you by being the best listener to all your rants.

“Mmm, can’t decide if it’s the interview or the live performances I’m more nervous about.”

“The questions have been screened and curated though, right?” You nodded.

Hansol then decided to change the subject, knowing that the whole purpose of this trip was to liberate you from the flurry of activities you had planned after releasing the album. “What shall we cook for Friday?”

You gave him a pointed look. “You mean, what shall I cook for Friday.” He chuckled, his infamous skills (or lack thereof) in the kitchen had you bench him from actual cooking (at least those that require the food to be decent for the consumption of others at the dinner parties).

“Hey, I’m getting better! I can help with prep.” He said in a jokingly defensive manner. You rolled your eyes, causing him to peck a quick kiss on your cheek as a result of the intense fond feeling he had while looking at your face.

“Yeah yeah, sure. Minghao suggested steak because he wants to break open a new red wine he got from China.”

“Hmm… steak sounds good… let’s do that.” Hansol replied.

You got tired of sitting up so you laid your back onto the picnic mat, propping your head up with a makeshift pillow aka your hiking bag. Hansol picked up your relaxed vibe and decided to lay his head on your belly. Your hands instinctively found his hair, massaging his scalp gently.

He hummed gently, blending into the white noise of the forest.

[studentofetherium]

I want to talk about my favorite AMV.

You should watch it before reading this. Here. It’s only 80 seconds long. Also, spoilers for pretty much all of Monogatari.

Sweet Trip were already a favorite band of mine before finding this AMV. That is probably a factor as to why I like this as much as I do. Pretending is a fantastic song and one of my favorites from the band’s catalogue. Hachikuji, too, is a fantastic character, who always escapes being my favorite when talking about the Monogatari cast, but is still an utter delight.

Before talking about the AMV itself, I need to talk about the song itself and Hachikuji as a character, to set a baseline.

Pretending is a cheerful and upbeat song with a nostalgic retro feel. Sonically, it fits the same feeling as the openings for Hachikuji’s three arcs. Lyrically, too, it plays with those songs. Kaerimichi is an innocent song describing childish wanderings, while Happy bite is a bittersweet love song with a focus on things not being said. Finally, terminal terminal, while also a love song, returns to the childish feeling with a theme of looking back at the past with an eye towards the future. Continuing from these, Pretending functions as the ending to these: it says to stop looking back and move forward with your life, because it’s limited. Life is limited, the song says, so live your life. This is ironic for Hachikuji, the ghost girl, but it still holds true for her arc.

Hachikuji held off telling Koyomi about her feelings for him until the last minute. Hachikuji lied to him, saying that she was around to stay, because she wanted to spend more time with him. And even while she spent this time with him, she knew her time was limited, and yet she held off saying it.

Hachikuji was pretending.

'Cause we all have our due time

At the climax of the arc Shinobu Time, Hachikuji’s time runs out. She dies a second death by finally moving onto the afterlife, but not before finally telling Koyomi how she feels about him.

Pretty soon you're dead. You can't pretend, you can't deny, you can't deny

The chorus repeats this line.

Pretty soon you're dead. You can't pretend, you can't deny, you can't deny

Hachikuji is dead. She has moved on and gone to the afterworld. However, that’s not where her story ends.

Go chase a dream

Build it and do not set it free

Build it for the whole world to see

Know that there's a reason why: it's your heart

Hachikuji gets better. She comes back from the grave and moves on with her unlife. She becomes a god and finally, for the first time in a decade, her future is open.

Go chase a dream

So, the AMV.

Contrary to the style for most AMVs, this one is composed entirely of still images. As it starts, for the first few lines, it’s quite simply just Hachikuji running around and wandering, as she was before Koyomi came into her life. It’s lighthearted and innocent, a young girl having innocent times, the kind of thing someone might look back on nostalgically. The images change on a line to line basis and each fits the line in question on a basic level but also a deeper level when you consider how the song fits Hachikuji’s character and arc.

When it reaches the chorus, it switches its tone.

Pretty soon you’re dead

With this line, we see the moment of Hachikuji’s death. This is the reason for her innocent wandering, the reason why she will never age, why she has the freedom to keep playing like a little kid, never moving forward.

You can’t pretend

Hachikuji lays in Koyomi’s arms.

You can’t deny

Hachikuji looks back at Koyomi.

She can’t hide her feelings.

Pretty soon you’re dead

Now being shown is the darkness, the correcting force of the universe. This is the clock on Hachikuji’s life that is ticking down, even in spite of her immortality. She can never die, but this can kill her.

It repeats from here. Everything fits the mood perfectly, encapsulating Hachikuji, her character, and her arc.

The whole thing is remarkably simple, to the point that spelling it out like this feels like stating the obvious. It’s expertly crafted and does a great job at telling a story while also being a tribute to everything she is and ever was. Just go watch it. Again. And maybe again after that.

[spiinsparks]

( * SONIC FRONTIERS SPOILERS AHEAD ! )

        ||. mostly for the frontiers peeps but you ever think about how the vocal tracks generally have a tug-of-war, tonally between the usual Sonic-Coded smooth tenor singer, and the more screamo/not-exactly-rap/metal parts? you ever think about how ... y’know, normally you’d expect 2 different styles like that to show a contrast between the Hero and the Villain. Or at least, whoever the Hero is fighting. But... like. the Titans don’t talk. Their pilots are dead. There’s not really any indication those 3 ancients “survived” the way some of the Koco do.

       You ever think about how towards the end once you actually succeed in “being the key” it’s... sort of a part of the whole initial problem concerning The End? because y’know. yeah, TE was lucky it helped saved your friends, but... those Titans were keeping her/it contained too. 

       So it’s not a hero vs. villain thing, ironically enough, the theme for The End’s battle is surprisingly quiet, compared to ... all of them. Even the battle between Supreme.

      You ever think about how the screamo doesn’t even feel like non-sonic lyrics either??? More on that later. But like it all just feels like Sonic’s inner monologue ;;; the heroic parts.... and the angry and stressed out parts. Especially given just how... ornery Sonic is about freeing his friends from the cyber-space. Like. considering the potential that maybe they went so hard on these tracks (outside of yknow. sonic franchise just being Like That.) uh... to make it all feel like final boss tracks... because for the Titans... I mean... in quite a lot of ways you are the final boss ;;; one that ends up being the key to TE’s actual defeat, sure but... yknow.

Anyways below the cut is the faster/metal/screamo parts i was talking about:

- UNDEFEATABLE

Think I’m on eleven, but I’m on a nine Guess you don’t really know me Running from the past is a losing game It never brings you glory Been down this road before Already know this story Face your fear

- BREAK THROUGH IT ALL

I've been here waiting for the longest time I can't believe it's real You lose the battles that you never fight Can't hide from what you feel (Come on!) No more compromise; this is do or die And now you've crossed the line You'll wake the beast inside No more compromise; this is do or die I'll warn you one last time You'll wake the beast inside!

- FIND YOUR FLAME

I'm here to go beyond my limit, not to compromise And you can tell me if I mean it lookin' in my eyes 'Cause I've been waitin' for my moment to strike So come close; let me show you what it's like, yeah You can try to stand in my path, but you're gonna regret it I'll be the one who laughs last while we’re makin' my exit 'Cause this is only for the strong of heart, not if you get it And no matter what the outcome, you’d better accept it I can cut right through steel; I can bury thе blade So go down for a second; just get out of my way (Out of my way) Staying still, I'm not lеtting it go So take this as a lesson, 'cause it's all that we know

FIND YOUR FLAME too, i find especially interesting w/ this potential context (that it’s ALL from Sonic’s POV) bc it’s  a. the anti-infinite track in actually every way, straight down to having the same singer involved b. ... how it goes from this angry, angry sounding lyrics into the melodic Sonic-tenor. How it ends up slowing the frick down at the very end of it... and leaves off on that sweet, hopeful, heroic, melody that’s been stuck in my head since the first time I heard the dang song.

[eurydicees]

thoughts on the musicals y’all recommended!

tysm for all the recs! i had so much fun listening to them, i really appreciate it! always feel free to rec more :)  

to preface, there’s no actual judging system. it’s all about the vibes. so, in the order that i listened to them: 

the mad ones

i already made a post abt this one, but i have to mention it again. i’ve been listening to it on repeat. like. straight up on a loop. 

i’m obsessed with this

the storyline is so put together, and you can really feel the heart of the show

the characters were well written (with the exception of the boyfriend tbh, i could have done without him), and i’m so fascinated by sam and kelly’s relationship (writers were cowards for making them not gay) 

the songs felt super cohesive, and the repeated drum loop was super well integrated. the sound techie in me is fascinated by the way this show was put together, and i’d love to see it performed (like. fr. i was getting ideas for the design. which is always so much fun) 

19.75/10

romeo es julia

holy shit this slaps

costumes were weird

but the music was brilliant

some of the captioned lyrics were ???? bad translation or bad lyrics??? but the sound was incredible so i don’t even care 

mercutio and tybalt were spot on

the moms were GREAT. i LOVED their voices, like. could FEEL the emotions, even if i didn’t know wtf they were saying 

pretty much everyone was like that, like idk what’s going on via words, but i def can feel it, which is the best kind of song

my mother didn’t like this one but whatever, she didn’t get to see the choreo that went with it so what does she know 

the SET. the LIGHTS. the SOUND. the SET. the LIGHTS. the SOUND. chef’s kiss. 

14/10 

ordinary days

eh

i liked “favorite places” and “beautiful” a lot, but the rest of the songs were only okay

i wasn’t super attached to the characters and the singing was just. like. okay for me. i didn’t love any of them in particular 

my mother also didn’t like this one, rip. she has a lot of opinions on musicals. 

6/10

venice

oh my fucking god???????? 

not what i expected at all. right from the first lines i was like. 😲😲😲 

like. this was so good??? wtf???? hamilton meets shakespeare meets the mechanisms meets les mis meets post-9/11 politics meets dystopia. i thought it couldn’t be done, but here i am, in awe

i was going to include some favorite lines but. it’s just all of them. ALL of them. 

further confirmation that i’m in love with jennifer damiano. 

also angela polk?? incredible 

it’s weird bc it’s so clearly Not Broadway Music, but it’s also not trying to be, which i enjoy. i can see why some critics hated it (read some really funny reviews lmao), but i really loved the sound (haven’t seen the show, though, and that’s half of a musical, so maybe gonna try and find a bootleg) 

18.99/10

count of monte cristo 

damn from the overture this was. Intense. like. damn. i’m a slut for any dies irae sequence, so i was a big fan of that

that being said. gonna be real. i had no idea what was happening throughout the entire musical. it’s a pretty music-light show, so that’s probably why? 

maybe it would make more sense if i watched a performance rather than just listening to the soundtrack??? idk. anyone got a bootleg? 

thomas borchert has a nice voice. very distinctive. googled him to see where else i can listen to him. he was rum tum tugger. anyways. mad respect for this man

sonically, it didn’t feel like a very cohesive show? like it felt like there were a lot of diff vibes going around

lots of good songs for my evil musicals playlist though 

11/10 

once on this island (2017 revival)

ok turns out musicals are a lot better when sung by professionals than by sixth graders who think they can belt even tho their voices are still cracking 

also turns out that stories can be much more complex and interesting-- and have much deeper themes of racism and classism-- when on broadway than when in a sweaty middle school auditorium in an upper middle class white neighborhood 

funny how that works, huh 

i’m still a little unsure abt it, and probably wouldn’t listen to it just because i can, but i definitely don’t object to it anymore 

ty for making me give it a second try 

hailey kilgore is brilliant in this

the singing in general is REALLY impressive and beautiful 

12.68/10 

death note

i cannot express enough in words how mad i am that i actually liked this

genuinely don’t know how to feel 

i do think that i would get more out of it if i watched the anime, but it was still pretty easy to follow, just knowing the premise 

idk who the cast is bc i found a weird shady playlist on spotify rather than a cast recording, but the girl’s voice (idk character names) was beautiful. “i’ll only love you more” was SO good

reminded me a little of jekyll and hyde? which? huh

also i’m now getting tik tok videos with audio from this musical can my iphone stop stalking me for ONE second

fucking unfair that this is actually a good soundtrack. the desire to find a bootleg is unholy. 

14.87/10 

35mm

why did no one tell me that alex brightman is in this!!!!

i listened to a few songs and really enjoyed them, but didn't get through the whole album lmao

but i did really enjoy what i did listen to, and i'm gonna come back to it

9/10

ghost quartet

i wanted to like this one. SO badly. i REALLY wanted to like it.

but i couldn't really get into it? 

there were a few songs that absolutely slapped, but overall, it was just kinda. eh. which sucks bc i have heard such good things about it

i LOVED "the astronomer," "the telescope," and "lights out" 

but i didn't get through the entire album

i'll come back to it eventually and give it another try, i think. i might just not have been in the specific mood for it

9.8/10

[hlupdate]

Variety’s Grammy-nominated Hitmaker of the Year goes deep on the music industry, the great pause and finding his own muses.

“We’ll dance again,” Harry Styles coos, the Los Angeles sunshine peeking through his pandemic-shaggy hair just so. The singer, songwriter and actor — beloved and critically acclaimed thanks to his life-affirming year-old album, “Fine Line” — is lamenting that his Variety Hitmaker of the Year cover conversation has to be conducted over Zoom rather than in person. Even via videoconference, the Brit is effortlessly charming, as anyone who’s come within earshot of him would attest, but it quickly becomes clear that beneath that genial smile is a well-honed media strategy.

To wit: In an interview that appears a few days later announcing his investment in a new arena in his native Manchester (more on that in a bit), he repeats the refrain — “There will be a time we dance again”— referencing a much-needed return to live music and the promise of some 4,000 jobs for residents.

None of which is to suggest that Styles, 26, phones it in for interviews. Quite the opposite: He does very few, conceivably to give more of himself and not cheapen what is out there and also to use the publicity opportunity to indulge his other interests, like fashion. (Last month Styles became the first male to grace the cover of Vogue solo.) Still, it stings a little that a waltz with the former One Direction member may not come to pass on this album cycle — curse you, coronavirus.

Styles’ isolation has coincided with his maturation as an artist, a thespian and a person. With “Fine Line,” he’s proved himself a skilled lyricist with a tremendous ear for harmony and melody. In preparing for his role in Olivia Wilde’s period thriller “Don’t Worry Darling,” which is shooting outside Palm Springs, he found an outlet for expression in interpreting words on a page. And for the first time, he’s using his megaphone to speak out about social justice — inspired by the outpouring of support for Black people around the world following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police in May.

Styles has spent much of the past nine months at home in London, where life has slowed considerably. The time has allowed him to ponder such heady issues as his purpose on the earth. “It’s been a pause that I don’t know if I would have otherwise taken,” says Styles. “I think it’s been pretty good for me to have a kind of stop, to look and think about what it actually means to be an artist, what it means to do what we do and why we do it. I lean into moments like this — moments of uncertainty.”

In truth, while Styles has largely been keeping a low profile — his Love On Tour, due to kick off on April 15, was postponed in late March and is now scheduled to launch in February 2021 (whether it actually will remains to be seen) — his music has not. This is especially true in the U.S., where he’s notched two hit singles, “Adore You,” the second-most-played song at radio in 2020, and “Watermelon Sugar” (No. 22 on Variety’s year-end Hitmakers chart), with a third, “Golden,” already cresting the top 20 on the pop format. The massive cross-platform success of these songs means Styles has finally and decisively broken into the American market, maneuvering its web of gatekeepers to accumulate 6.2 million consumption units and rising.

Why do these particular songs resonate in 2020? Styles doesn’t have the faintest idea. While he acknowledges a “nursery rhyme” feel to “Watermelon Sugar” with its earwormy loop of a chorus, that’s about as much insight as he can offer. His longtime collaborator and friend Tom Hull, also known as the producer Kid Harpoon, offers this take: “There’s a lot of amazing things about that song, but what really stands out is the lyric. It’s not trying to hide or be clever. The simplicity of watermelon … there’s such a joy in it, [which] is a massive part of that song’s success.” Also, his kids love it. “I’ve never had a song connect with children in this way,” says Hull, whose credits include tunes by Shawn Mendes, Florence and the Machine and Calvin Harris. “I get sent videos all the time from friends of their kids singing. I have a 3-year-old and an 8-year-old, and they listen to it.”

Styles is quick to note that he doesn’t chase pop appeal when crafting songs. In fact, the times when he pondered or approved a purposeful tweak, like on his self-titled 2017 debut, still gnaw at him. “I love that album so much because it represents such a time in my life, but when I listen to it — sonically and lyrically, especially — I can hear places where I was playing it safe,” he says. “I was scared to get it wrong.”

Contemporary effects and on-trend beats hardly factor into Styles’ decision-making. He likes to focus on feelings — his own and his followers’ — and see himself on the other side of the velvet rope, an important distinction in his view. “People within [the industry] feel like they operate on a higher level of listening, and I like to make music from the point of being a fan of music,” Styles says. “Fans are the best A&R.”

This from someone who’s had free rein to pursue every musical whim, and hand in the album of his dreams in the form of “Fine Line.” Chart success makes it all the sweeter, but Styles insists that writing “for the right reasons” supersedes any commercial considerations. “There’s no part that feels, eh, icky — like it was made in the lab,” he says.

Styles has experience in this realm. As a graduate of the U.K. competition series “The X Factor,” where he and four other auditionees — Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson — were singled out by show creator and star judge Simon Cowell to conjoin as One Direction, he’s seen how the prefab pop machine works up close. The One Direction oeuvre, which counts some 42 million albums sold worldwide, includes songs written with such established hitmakers as Ryan Tedder, Savan Kotecha and Teddy Geiger. Being a studious, insatiable observer, Styles took it all in.

“I learned so much,” he says of the experience. “When we were in the band, I used to try and write with as many different people as I could. I wanted to practice — and I wrote a lot of bad shit.”

His bandmates also benefited from the pop star boot camp. The proof is in the relatively seamless solo transitions of at least three of its members — Payne, Malik and Horan in addition to Styles — each of whom has landed hit singles on charts in the U.K., the U.S. and beyond.

This departs from the typical trajectories of boy bands including New Kids on the Block and ’N Sync, which have all pro ered a star frontman. The thinking for decades was that a record company would be lucky to have one breakout solo career among the bunch.

Styles has plainly thought about this.

“When you look at the history of people coming out of bands and starting solo careers, they feel this need to apologize for being in the band. ‘Don’t worry, everyone, that wasn’t me! Now I get to do what I really want to do.’ But we loved being in the band,” he says. “I think there’s a wont to pit people against each other. And I think it’s never been about that for us. It’s about a next step in evolution. The fact that we’ve all achieved different things outside of the band says a lot about how hard we worked in it.”

Indeed, during the five-ish years that One Direction existed, Styles’ schedule involved the sort of nonstop international jet-setting that few get to see in a lifetime, never mind their teenage years. Between 2011 and 2015, One Direction’s tours pulled in north of $631 million in gross ticket sales, according to concert trade Pollstar, and the band was selling out stadiums worldwide by the time it entered its extended hiatus. Styles, too, had built up to playing arenas as a solo artist, engaging audiences with his colorful stage wear and banter and left-of-center choices for opening acts (a pre-Grammy-haul Kacey Musgraves in 2018; indie darlings King Princess and Jenny Lewis for his rescheduled 2021 run).

Stages of all sizes feel like home to Styles. He grew up in a suburb of Manchester, ground zero for some of the biggest British acts of the 1980s and ’90s, including Joy Division, New Order, the Smiths and Oasis, the latter of which broke the same year Styles was born. His parents were also music lovers. Styles’ father fed him a balanced diet of the Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones and Queen, while Mum was a fan of Shania Twain, Norah Jones and Savage Garden. “They’re all great melody writers,” says Styles of the acts’ musical throughline.

Stevie Nicks, who in the past has described “Fine Line” as Styles’ “Rumours,” referencing the Fleetwood Mac 1977 classic, sees him as a kindred spirit. “Harry writes and sings his songs about real experiences that seemingly happened yesterday,” she tells Variety. “He taps into real life. He doesn’t make up stories. He tells the truth, and that is what I do. ‘Fine Line’ has been my favorite record since it came out. It is his ‘Rumours.’ I told him that in a note on December 13, 2019 before he went on stage to play the ‘Fine Line’ album at the Forum. We cried. He sang those songs like he had sung them a thousand times. That’s a great songwriter and a great performer.”

“Harry’s playing and writing is instinctual,” adds Jonathan Wilson, a friend and peer who’s advised Styles on backing and session musicians. “He understands history and where to take the torch. You can see the thread of great British performers — from Bolan to Bowie — in his music.”

Also shaping his musical DNA was Manchester itself, the site of a 23,500-seat arena, dubbed Co-op Live, for which Styles is an investor and adviser. Oak View Group, a company specializing in live entertainment and global sports that was founded by Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff in 2015 (Jeffrey Azoff, Irving’s son, represents Styles at Full Stop Management), is leading the effort to construct the venue. The project gained planning approval in September and is set to open in 2023, with its arrival representing a £350 million ($455 million) investment in the city. (Worth noting: Manchester is already home to an arena — the site of a 2017 bombing outside an Ariana Grande concert — and a football stadium, where One Love Manchester, an all-star benefit show to raise money for victims of the terrorist attack, took place.)

“I went to my first shows in Manchester,” Styles says of concerts paid for with money earned delivering newspapers for a supermarket called the Co-op. “My friends and I would go in on weekends. There’s so many amazing small venues, and music is such a massive part of the city. I think Manchester deserves it. It feels like a full-circle, coming-home thing to be doing this and to be able to give any kind of input. I’m incredibly proud. Hopefully they’ll let me play there at some point.”

Though Styles has owned properties in Los Angeles, his base for the foreseeable future is London. “I feel like my relationship with L.A. has changed a lot,” he explains. “I’ve kind of accepted that I don’t have to live here anymore; for a while I felt like I was supposed to. Like it meant things were going well. This happened, then you move to L.A.! But I don’t really want to.”

Is it any wonder? Between COVID and the turmoil in the U.S. spurred by the presidential election, Styles, like some 79 million American voters, is recovering from sticker shock over the bill of goods sold to them by the concept of democracy. “In general, as people, there’s a lack of empathy,” he observes. “We found this place that’s so divisive. We just don’t listen to each other anymore. And that’s quite scary.”

That belief prompted Styles to speak out publicly in the wake of George Floyd’s death. As protests in support of Black Lives Matter took to streets all over the world, for Styles, it triggered a period of introspection, as marked by an Instagram message (liked by 2.7 million users and counting) in which he declared: “I do things every day without fear, because I am privileged, and I am privileged every day because I am white. … Being not racist is not enough, we must be anti racist. Social change is enacted when a society mobilizes. I stand in solidarity with all of those protesting. I’m donating to help post bail for arrested organizers. Look inwards, educate yourself and others. LISTEN, READ, SHARE, DONATE and VOTE. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. BLACK LIVES MATTER.”

“Talking about race can be really uncomfortable for everyone,” Styles elaborates. “I had a realization that my own comfort in the conversation has nothing to do with the problem — like that’s not enough of a reason to not have a conversation. Looking back, I don’t think I’ve been outspoken enough in the past. Using that feeling has pushed me forward to being open and ready to learn. … How can I ensure from my side that in 20 years, the right things are still being done and the right people are getting the right opportunities? That it’s not a passing thing?”

His own record company — and corporate parent Sony Music Group, whose chairman, Rob Stringer, signed Styles in 2016 — has been grappling with these same questions as the industry has faced its own reckoning with race. At issue: inequality among the upper ranks (an oft-cited statistic: popular music is 80% Black, but the music business is 80% white); contracts rooted in a decades-old system that many say is set up to take advantage of artists, Black artists more unfairly than white; and the call for a return of master rights, an ownership model that is at the core of the business.

Styles acknowledges the fundamental imbalance in how a major label deal is structured — the record company takes on the financial risk while the artist is made to recoup money spent on the project before the act is considered profitable and earning royalties (typically at a 15% to 18% rate for the artist, while the label keeps and disburses the rest). “Historically, I can’t think of any industry that’s benefited more off of Black culture than music,” he says. “There are discussions that need to happen about this long history of not being paid fairly. It’s a time for listening, and hopefully, people will come out humbled, educated and willing to learn and change.”

By all accounts, Styles is a voracious reader, a movie lover and an aesthete. He stays in shape by adhering to a strict daily exercise routine. “I tried to keep up but didn’t last more than two weeks,” says Hull, Styles’ producer, with a laugh. “The discipline is terrifying.”

Of course, with the fashion world beckoning — Styles recently appeared in a film series for Gucci’s new collection that was co-directed by the fashion house’s creative director, Alessandro Michele, and Oscar winner Gus Van Sant — and a movie that’s set in the 1950s, maintaining that physique is part of the job. And he’s no stranger to visual continuity after appearing in Christopher Nolan’s epic “Dunkirk” and having to return to set for reshoots; his hair, which needed to be cut back to its circa 1940 form, is a constant topic of conversation among fans. This time, it’s the ink that poses a challenge. By Styles’ tally, he’s up to 60 tattoos, which require an hour in the makeup chair to cover up. “It’s the only time I really regret getting tattooed,” he says.

He shows no regret, however, when it comes to stylistic choices overall, and takes pride in his gender-agnostic portfolio, which includes wearing a Gucci dress on that Vogue cover— an image that incited conservative pundit Candace Owens to plead publicly to “bring back manly men.” In Styles’ view: “To not wear [something] because it’s females’ clothing, you shut out a whole world of great clothes. And I think what’s exciting about right now is you can wear what you like. It doesn’t have to be X or Y. Those lines are becoming more and more blurred.”

But acclaim, if you can believe it, is not top of mind for Styles. As far as the Grammys are concerned, Styles shrugs, “It’s never why I do anything.” His team and longtime label, however, had their hearts set on a showing at the Jan. 31 ceremony. Their investment in Styles has been substantial — not just monetarily but in carefully crafting his career in the wake of such icons as David Bowie, who released his final albums with the label. Hope at the company and in many fans’ hearts that Styles would receive an album of the year nomination did not come to pass. However, he was recognized in three categories, including best pop vocal album.

“It’s always nice to know that people like what you’re doing, but ultimately — and especially working in a subjective field — I don’t put too much weight on that stuff,” Styles says. “I think it’s important when making any kind of art to remove the ego from it.” Citing the painter Matisse, he adds: “It’s about the work that you do when you’re not expecting any applause.”

[kpop]

K-Pop Spotlight: OnlyOneOf

This self-producing boy group, composed of leader and vocalist Love, rapper KB, vocalist Rie, dancer YooJung, rapper Mill, vocalist JunJi, and beatmaker Nine, debuted just six months ago and already have two mini-albums and three music videos under their belts. After their ambitious debut with Savanna and Time Leap, the septet is back with their latest title track, Sage, off their new mini-album Line Sun Goodness. We caught up with the boys amidst their promotions to chat about their comeback, self-care, and Hogwarts houses.

How would you describe your current sound and how it differs from your debut tracks Savanna and Time Leap?

Nine: I’ve been working on beat making and truly believe I’ve improved the quality of my beats since our debut. I am so excited about our work on our track OnlyOneOf me. Of course, I love our other songs, too, but whenever someone compliments OnlyOneOf me, I can’t contain how happy I am that we helped to make that song. We’ve also enhanced the details of our vocals since our debut, because our team has such a unique collection of tones. There is still a lot more that we are working to do better!

KB: I tried to express a sexier and more desperate tone of rapping for Sage in comparison to our debut. These days, Nine and I are trying to pay attention to the smallest details of a song to learn how to compose better. We are really proud of the three songs on this album that we helped compose.

Love: I’ve really tried to challenge myself as a vocalist on Sage by singing with an emotional, begging tone. I sang more softly and sensually on Savanna and Time Leap.

YooJung: I’d say Sage definitely shows a matured and restrained sensuality compared to Savanna.

Rie: Yeah, Sage is more intense, with more tension!

Mill: I tried to record the tracks as if I were on a stage…so I think my voice came out even more sensually? The fans can tell us if that’s true!

If you had to choose only one musical artist to listen to for the rest of your lives, who would it be and why?

Rie: Post Malone! He continues to release music that feels fresh and modern, so I could listen to him for a long time and still be surprised by his music.

Mill: I’ve been listening to a lot of emotional music lately and pH-1 is one of my favorite artists for music like that, so I’d choose him.

JunJi: I will definitely pick BTS Jungkook’s songs! I feel like I could die in peace if I listened to his music :)

YooJung: Hmm…there’s this fantastic group called OnlyOneOf that makes spectacular music! Hehe.

What was the most challenging part about preparing for your first comeback?

Nine: I’ve practiced really hard to be able to make diverse facial expressions on stage!

YooJung: I’ve also tried hard to get better at making sophisticated expressions that tell the story of our music.

KB: I wrote tracks for this album day and night! We all study music and composition as hard as we can and try not to hesitate to try new genres and sounds. For this album, we continued to work on establishing our own sonic color that feels unique to us.

Rie: Our debut was a pretty sensual concept, so I’ve put in my best effort into creating a more powerful image for Sage.

Mill: Definitely my new bright red hair style! I think it has really changed my image and definitely help our team tell the story of Sage because it references the lyrics.

JunJi: Sliding with knees!! It definitely hurt to learn and is really difficult to do! There are ways to do it in a way that don’t hurt, but I’m still struggling to do it perfectly :( But it looks really good on stage! :)

If you had to sort yourself into a Hogwarts house, which would you choose?

YooJung: This is very easy. Nine, KB, JunJi, and Mill are all Slytherin. Love, Rie, and I are all Gryffindor. And we have fans from all houses, so they help complete our school!

Best self-care tips?

KB: I like spending time in the sauna.

Love: I like walking alone late at night, listening to music. It helps clear my head.

Rie: I also like spending time alone and going fishing!

YooJung: I’ll use beauty tools to give myself a really relaxing facial massage :)

JunJi: I like watching seafood mukbangs.

Mill: I watch sports on TV at the end of the day.

Nine: My favorite way to relax is eating ramen while watching a rerun of the Korean reality show Infinite Challenge.

What’s the most interesting thing about you that people may not know?

KB: I think I’m getting taller still.

Love: When I like a specific food, I will eat it every day for an entire week.

Rie: I can cook a huge amount of ramen at once and keep the noodles from getting soggy! I am called “Noodle Rie” because of this.

YooJung: I know almost all of the spells from Harry Potter (Petrificus Totalus!) and I grew up studying Cha Cha and Ballroom dance.

JunJi: I am always singing in my free time, no matter where I am.

Mill: I’m really good at annoying JunJi :)

Nine: I’m really good at jumping rope and I can make a sound effect that sounds like the echoes of a karaoke machine.

What’s the most important piece of advice you’ve ever received?

Nine: The Korean artist Insooni gave us great advice which is that “fans will notice if you’re lazy, so practice hard and be honorable to yourself. That hard work will be recognized.” This advice continues to helps us all a lot.

Love: Exactly. Don’t cheat yourself out of hard work. Using shortcuts will get you someplace faster, but will lead to mistakes in the long run, so work hard and practice fair and square.

KB: Good things will happen if you think positively and put in your best effort!

YooJung: Even if you fail, always try your best.

Rie: Life is his who enjoys it. Don’t regret anything and embrace challenges when they come.

Mill: I like a piece of advice that our creative director gave us, which is that our team will grow stronger and last longer if our members are considerate of each other and look out for each other. We are a family.

The video for Sage has a very futuristic vibe—what are you most looking forward to as a group in coming years?

KB: We really want our music to grow and get better as we grow as people, composers, and performers ourselves. In the future, we hope to make music that falls well on many ears and gives comfort to many people.

Want more OnlyOneOf? Check out their video for Sage and follow along with the conversation here.

[hldailyupdate]

This Charming Man: Why We’re Wild About Harry Styles

Variety’s Grammy-nominated Hitmaker of the Year goes deep on the music industry, the great pause and finding his own muses.

“We’ll dance again,” Harry Styles coos, the Los Angeles sunshine peeking through his pandemic-shaggy hair just so. The singer, songwriter and actor — beloved and critically acclaimed thanks to his life-affirming year-old album, “Fine Line” — is lamenting that his Variety Hitmaker of the Year cover conversation has to be conducted over Zoom rather than in person. Even via videoconference, the Brit is effortlessly charming, as anyone who’s come within earshot of him would attest, but it quickly becomes clear that beneath that genial smile is a well-honed media strategy.

To wit: In an interview that appears a few days later announcing his investment in a new arena in his native Manchester (more on that in a bit), he repeats the refrain — “There will be a time we dance again”— referencing a much-needed return to live music and the promise of some 4,000 jobs for residents.

None of which is to suggest that Styles, 26, phones it in for interviews. Quite the opposite: He does very few, conceivably to give more of himself and not cheapen what is out there and also to use the publicity opportunity to indulge his other interests, like fashion. (Last month Styles became the first male to grace the cover of Vogue solo.) Still, it stings a little that a waltz with the former One Direction member may not come to pass on this album cycle — curse you, coronavirus.

Styles’ isolation has coincided with his maturation as an artist, a thespian and a person. With “Fine Line,” he’s proved himself a skilled lyricist with a tremendous ear for harmony and melody. In preparing for his role in Olivia Wilde’s period thriller “Don’t Worry Darling,” which is shooting outside Palm Springs, he found an outlet for expression in interpreting words on a page. And for the first time, he’s using his megaphone to speak out about social justice — inspired by the outpouring of support for Black people around the world following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police in May.

Styles has spent much of the past nine months at home in London, where life has slowed considerably. The time has allowed him to ponder such heady issues as his purpose on the earth. “It’s been a pause that I don’t know if I would have otherwise taken,” says Styles. “I think it’s been pretty good for me to have a kind of stop, to look and think about what it actually means to be an artist, what it means to do what we do and why we do it. I lean into moments like this — moments of uncertainty.”

In truth, while Styles has largely been keeping a low profile — his Love On Tour, due to kick off on April 15, was postponed in late March and is now scheduled to launch in February 2021 (whether it actually will remains to be seen) — his music has not. This is especially true in the U.S., where he’s notched two hit singles, “Adore You,” the second-most-played song at radio in 2020, and “Watermelon Sugar” (No. 22 on Variety’s year-end Hitmakers chart), with a third, “Golden,” already cresting the top 20 on the pop format. The massive cross-platform success of these songs means Styles has finally and decisively broken into the American market, maneuvering its web of gatekeepers to accumulate 6.2 million consumption units and rising.

Why do these particular songs resonate in 2020? Styles doesn’t have the faintest idea. While he acknowledges a “nursery rhyme” feel to “Watermelon Sugar” with its earwormy loop of a chorus, that’s about as much insight as he can offer. His longtime collaborator and friend Tom Hull, also known as the producer Kid Harpoon, offers this take: “There’s a lot of amazing things about that song, but what really stands out is the lyric. It’s not trying to hide or be clever. The simplicity of watermelon … there’s such a joy in it, [which] is a massive part of that song’s success.” Also, his kids love it. “I’ve never had a song connect with children in this way,” says Hull, whose credits include tunes by Shawn Mendes, Florence and the Machine and Calvin Harris. “I get sent videos all the time from friends of their kids singing. I have a 3-year-old and an 8-year-old, and they listen to it.”

Styles is quick to note that he doesn’t chase pop appeal when crafting songs. In fact, the times when he pondered or approved a purposeful tweak, like on his self-titled 2017 debut, still gnaw at him. “I love that album so much because it represents such a time in my life, but when I listen to it — sonically and lyrically, especially — I can hear places where I was playing it safe,” he says. “I was scared to get it wrong.”

Contemporary effects and on-trend beats hardly factor into Styles’ decision-making. He likes to focus on feelings — his own and his followers’ — and see himself on the other side of the velvet rope, an important distinction in his view. “People within [the industry] feel like they operate on a higher level of listening, and I like to make music from the point of being a fan of music,” Styles says. “Fans are the best A&R.”

This from someone who’s had free rein to pursue every musical whim, and hand in the album of his dreams in the form of “Fine Line.” Chart success makes it all the sweeter, but Styles insists that writing “for the right reasons” supersedes any commercial considerations. “There’s no part that feels, eh, icky — like it was made in the lab,” he says.

Styles has experience in this realm. As a graduate of the U.K. competition series “The X Factor,” where he and four other auditionees — Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson — were singled out by show creator and star judge Simon Cowell to conjoin as One Direction, he’s seen how the prefab pop machine works up close. The One Direction oeuvre, which counts some 42 million albums sold worldwide, includes songs written with such established hitmakers as Ryan Tedder, Savan Kotecha and Teddy Geiger. Being a studious, insatiable observer, Styles took it all in.

“I learned so much,” he says of the experience. “When we were in the band, I used to try and write with as many different people as I could. I wanted to practice — and I wrote a lot of bad shit.”

His bandmates also benefited from the pop star boot camp. The proof is in the relatively seamless solo transitions of at least three of its members — Payne, Malik and Horan in addition to Styles — each of whom has landed hit singles on charts in the U.K., the U.S. and beyond.

This departs from the typical trajectories of boy bands including New Kids on the Block and ’N Sync, which have all pro ered a star frontman. The thinking for decades was that a record company would be lucky to have one breakout solo career among the bunch.

Styles has plainly thought about this.

“When you look at the history of people coming out of bands and starting solo careers, they feel this need to apologize for being in the band. ‘Don’t worry, everyone, that wasn’t me! Now I get to do what I really want to do.’ But we loved being in the band,” he says. “I think there’s a wont to pit people against each other. And I think it’s never been about that for us. It’s about a next step in evolution. The fact that we’ve all achieved different things outside of the band says a lot about how hard we worked in it.”

Indeed, during the five-ish years that One Direction existed, Styles’ schedule involved the sort of nonstop international jet-setting that few get to see in a lifetime, never mind their teenage years. Between 2011 and 2015, One Direction’s tours pulled in north of $631 million in gross ticket sales, according to concert trade Pollstar, and the band was selling out stadiums worldwide by the time it entered its extended hiatus. Styles, too, had built up to playing arenas as a solo artist, engaging audiences with his colorful stage wear and banter and left-of-center choices for opening acts (a pre-Grammy-haul Kacey Musgraves in 2018; indie darlings King Princess and Jenny Lewis for his rescheduled 2021 run).

Stages of all sizes feel like home to Styles. He grew up in a suburb of Manchester, ground zero for some of the biggest British acts of the 1980s and ’90s, including Joy Division, New Order, the Smiths and Oasis, the latter of which broke the same year Styles was born. His parents were also music lovers. Styles’ father fed him a balanced diet of the Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones and Queen, while Mum was a fan of Shania Twain, Norah Jones and Savage Garden. “They’re all great melody writers,” says Styles of the acts’ musical throughline.

Stevie Nicks, who in the past has described “Fine Line” as Styles’ “Rumours,” referencing the Fleetwood Mac 1977 classic, sees him as a kindred spirit. “Harry writes and sings his songs about real experiences that seemingly happened yesterday,” she tells Variety. “He taps into real life. He doesn’t make up stories. He tells the truth, and that is what I do. ‘Fine Line’ has been my favorite record since it came out. It is his ‘Rumours.’ I told him that in a note on December 13, 2019 before he went on stage to play the ‘Fine Line’ album at the Forum. We cried. He sang those songs like he had sung them a thousand times. That’s a great songwriter and a great performer.”

“Harry’s playing and writing is instinctual,” adds Jonathan Wilson, a friend and peer who’s advised Styles on backing and session musicians. “He understands history and where to take the torch. You can see the thread of great British performers — from Bolan to Bowie — in his music.”

Also shaping his musical DNA was Manchester itself, the site of a 23,500-seat arena, dubbed Co-op Live, for which Styles is an investor and adviser. Oak View Group, a company specializing in live entertainment and global sports that was founded by Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff in 2015 (Jeffrey Azoff, Irving’s son, represents Styles at Full Stop Management), is leading the effort to construct the venue. The project gained planning approval in September and is set to open in 2023, with its arrival representing a £350 million ($455 million) investment in the city. (Worth noting: Manchester is already home to an arena — the site of a 2017 bombing outside an Ariana Grande concert — and a football stadium, where One Love Manchester, an all-star benefit show to raise money for victims of the terrorist attack, took place.)

“I went to my first shows in Manchester,” Styles says of concerts paid for with money earned delivering newspapers for a supermarket called the Co-op. “My friends and I would go in on weekends. There’s so many amazing small venues, and music is such a massive part of the city. I think Manchester deserves it. It feels like a full-circle, coming-home thing to be doing this and to be able to give any kind of input. I’m incredibly proud. Hopefully they’ll let me play there at some point.”

Though Styles has owned properties in Los Angeles, his base for the foreseeable future is London. “I feel like my relationship with L.A. has changed a lot,” he explains. “I’ve kind of accepted that I don’t have to live here anymore; for a while I felt like I was supposed to. Like it meant things were going well. This happened, then you move to L.A.! But I don’t really want to.”

Is it any wonder? Between COVID and the turmoil in the U.S. spurred by the presidential election, Styles, like some 79 million American voters, is recovering from sticker shock over the bill of goods sold to them by the concept of democracy. “In general, as people, there’s a lack of empathy,” he observes. “We found this place that’s so divisive. We just don’t listen to each other anymore. And that’s quite scary.”

That belief prompted Styles to speak out publicly in the wake of George Floyd’s death. As protests in support of Black Lives Matter took to streets all over the world, for Styles, it triggered a period of introspection, as marked by an Instagram message (liked by 2.7 million users and counting) in which he declared: “I do things every day without fear, because I am privileged, and I am privileged every day because I am white. … Being not racist is not enough, we must be anti racist. Social change is enacted when a society mobilizes. I stand in solidarity with all of those protesting. I’m donating to help post bail for arrested organizers. Look inwards, educate yourself and others. LISTEN, READ, SHARE, DONATE and VOTE. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. BLACK LIVES MATTER.”

“Talking about race can be really uncomfortable for everyone,” Styles elaborates. “I had a realization that my own comfort in the conversation has nothing to do with the problem — like that’s not enough of a reason to not have a conversation. Looking back, I don’t think I’ve been outspoken enough in the past. Using that feeling has pushed me forward to being open and ready to learn. … How can I ensure from my side that in 20 years, the right things are still being done and the right people are getting the right opportunities? That it’s not a passing thing?”

His own record company — and corporate parent Sony Music Group, whose chairman, Rob Stringer, signed Styles in 2016 — has been grappling with these same questions as the industry has faced its own reckoning with race. At issue: inequality among the upper ranks (an oft-cited statistic: popular music is 80% Black, but the music business is 80% white); contracts rooted in a decades-old system that many say is set up to take advantage of artists, Black artists more unfairly than white; and the call for a return of master rights, an ownership model that is at the core of the business.

Styles acknowledges the fundamental imbalance in how a major label deal is structured — the record company takes on the financial risk while the artist is made to recoup money spent on the project before the act is considered profitable and earning royalties (typically at a 15% to 18% rate for the artist, while the label keeps and disburses the rest). “Historically, I can’t think of any industry that’s benefited more off of Black culture than music,” he says. “There are discussions that need to happen about this long history of not being paid fairly. It’s a time for listening, and hopefully, people will come out humbled, educated and willing to learn and change.”

By all accounts, Styles is a voracious reader, a movie lover and an aesthete. He stays in shape by adhering to a strict daily exercise routine. “I tried to keep up but didn’t last more than two weeks,” says Hull, Styles’ producer, with a laugh. “The discipline is terrifying.”

Of course, with the fashion world beckoning — Styles recently appeared in a film series for Gucci’s new collection that was co-directed by the fashion house’s creative director, Alessandro Michele, and Oscar winner Gus Van Sant — and a movie that’s set in the 1950s, maintaining that physique is part of the job. And he’s no stranger to visual continuity after appearing in Christopher Nolan’s epic “Dunkirk” and having to return to set for reshoots; his hair, which needed to be cut back to its circa 1940 form, is a constant topic of conversation among fans. This time, it’s the ink that poses a challenge. By Styles’ tally, he’s up to 60 tattoos, which require an hour in the makeup chair to cover up. “It’s the only time I really regret getting tattooed,” he says.

He shows no regret, however, when it comes to stylistic choices overall, and takes pride in his gender-agnostic portfolio, which includes wearing a Gucci dress on that Vogue cover— an image that incited conservative pundit Candace Owens to plead publicly to “bring back manly men.” In Styles’ view: “To not wear [something] because it’s females’ clothing, you shut out a whole world of great clothes. And I think what’s exciting about right now is you can wear what you like. It doesn’t have to be X or Y. Those lines are becoming more and more blurred.”

But acclaim, if you can believe it, is not top of mind for Styles. As far as the Grammys are concerned, Styles shrugs, “It’s never why I do anything.” His team and longtime label, however, had their hearts set on a showing at the Jan. 31 ceremony. Their investment in Styles has been substantial — not just monetarily but in carefully crafting his career in the wake of such icons as David Bowie, who released his final albums with the label. Hope at the company and in many fans’ hearts that Styles would receive an album of the year nomination did not come to pass. However, he was recognized in three categories, including best pop vocal album.

“It’s always nice to know that people like what you’re doing, but ultimately — and especially working in a subjective field — I don’t put too much weight on that stuff,” Styles says. “I think it’s important when making any kind of art to remove the ego from it.” Citing the painter Matisse, he adds: “It’s about the work that you do when you’re not expecting any applause.”

Harry for Variety. (2 December 2020)

[dustedmagazine]

Dust Volume 7, Number 5

Sarah Louise

A week or two before this Dust’s deadline, we got our first tour announcement by email in more than a year. It was the first of deluge, as live music looks to be coming back with a vengeance starting this summer and really picking up steam around September. Meanwhile, we celebrate our newly vaxxed (or for our Canadian correspondents half-vaxxed) status with tentative steps outside. Your editor had her first beer at a brew pub in mid-May, and it was stupendous. Also stupendous, the onslaught of new music, which has, if anything, accelerated. This month, contributors include all the regulars plus a few new people: Jennifer Kelly, Bill Meyer, Patrick Masterson, Ray Garraty, Tim Clarke, Andrew Forell, Ian Mathers, Bryon Hayes, Jonathan Shaw and Chris Liberato. Happy spring, happy normal and happy listening!

Amulets — Blooming (The Flenser)

Blooming by AMULETS

Like a lot of us, Portland-based noise artist Randall Taylor discovered the solace of long walks during the pandemic. His work, which has always used tape degradation to explore the intersection of time, loss and technology, shifted to incorporate another source of decay: the natural world. So, in opening salvo, “Blooming,” alongside blistering onslaughts of eroded guitar sound, it is possible to hear the sounds of a fertile garden — birds, insects, air movement. You can nearly smell the flowers and feel the sunshine on your skin. “The New Normal” explores sounds of creaking, friction-y word and metal, alongside pristine chimes of synthetic tone. It is uneasy, with skittering string-like squeaks and swoops, but also deeply meditative; it shifts from moment to moment from anxiety to provisional acceptance, much as we all did last year, staring out our windows. Overall, the tone is elegiac, gorgeous, but Randall does not hesitate to introduce dissonance. “Heaviest Weight” thunders with frayed bass tones, a weight and a threat in their subliminal pulse. The contrast between that ominous sound and purer, clearer layers of melody, makes for unsettling listening—are we at war or peace, happy or sad, agitated or calm? And yet, perhaps that’s the point, that the past year has been swirl of feelings, boredom alongside anxiety, hope lighting the corners of our listlessness, the smell of flowers pleasing but faintly reminiscent of funerals. Blooming decocts this mix into sound.

Jennifer Kelly

 Astute Palate — S-T (Petty Bunco)

Astute Palate by Astute Palate

Astute Palate is a hastily assembled group of rockers summoned to support David Nance in Philly on a date when he couldn’t bring the David Nance Band. Participants included Richie Records proprietor Richie Charles, Lantern’s Emily Robb, Writhing Squares/Purling Hiss/all around Philadelphia regular Daniel Provenzano on bass and, of course, Nance himself, all huddled together in Robb’s recording studio for a weekend together. None of this origin story does justice, however, to the pure liquid fire of this one-off musical collaboration, dominated by Nance’s viscous, distorted blues-inflected guitar wail, but knocked sideways by brute force drumming, wild hypnotic bass lines and the ritual incantation of Nance (and later Robb) singing. The long “Stall Out” does anything but, rampaging free-range in unbridled Crazy Horse/Allmans-style abandon for close to ten minutes without a single sputter. “A Little Proof” is somehow simultaneously heavier and more country, spinning out the soul-blues jams like a younger, unrulier cousin to MC5. “Treadin’ Schuylkill” gives Provenzano the spotlight, opening with a growling bass solo soon joined by heavy psych guitars (a nod, perhaps, to the illustrious locals in Bardo Pond). If Nance et. al. can pull stuff this fine out in a stray road warrior weekend, what are the rest of you doing with your lives?

Jennifer Kelly

 Axis: Sova — Fractal (God?)

Fractal - EP by Axis: Sova

Axis: Sova is a combo of three Chicago guys plus one drum machine, which had already been inactive for two or three seasons before the initial COVID lockdown. This digital EP is their way of clearing up some business that could no longer remain undone. The title tune, “Fractal USA,” is a remake of a song from the early days, when the “band” was Brett Sova’s solo project, to full-on, no your pants aren’t tight enough rock band. They just needed you to know about the evolution, you see, so go ahead, do some scissor kicks and gurn while they windmill away; you have enough money saved up from not seeing live music to pay the inevitable chiropractor bill. “Caramel” hypothesizes that a Cluster song that’s played twice as loud and twice as long is twice as good; not sure if I agree, but it’s still not bad at all. Maybe you got a little weird after a few months of putting on your best mask for your daily trip to see if the stimulus check was in the mailbox? The Brenda Ray-meets-Old Black mash up, “(Don’t Wanna Have That) Dream,” is proof that while you were alone, you weren’t alone. If you’ve made it this far, you don’t need to have the fourth track described, so let’s just say that it’s longer.

Bill Meyer

Mattie Barbier — Three Spaces (self-released)

three spaces by mattie barbier

While perhaps best known as half of the trombone-centric new music duo RAGE Thormbones, Mattie Barbier is a member of several other combos and a sonic researcher under their own name. Three Spaces, which is a single, album-length sound file, has the air of experimentation about it. “What do I do,” one can imagine Barbier asking themself, “when I can’t play with other people?” Make music at home, and out of what’s at home, is the obvious answer. But doing isn’t the only point here; the outcome also matters, and while what Barbier has accomplished with Three Spaces sounds quite different from the RAGE Thormbones live experience, it registers quite strongly. Barbier has combined long tones and melodic fragments played on euphonium, trombone and reed organ, that were recorded both inside and outside of their home. Carefully layered, the source material combines into a sound rather like a bell’s toll, which over the course of nearly 39 minutes swells and recedes, but never quite decays; it ends with an imposed rather than natural fade-out. The sound is as deep as it is expansive, inviting the listener to let themselves fall ever father into its realm.

Bill Meyer

 Beneath — On Tilt EP (Hemlock Recordings)

On Tilt EP by Beneath

One of the more pleasant surprises this year is the resuscitation of Untold’s Hemlock Recordings imprint. A vital voice in the post-dubstep fracas at the turn of the ‘10s thanks to releases from Hessle Audio’s Pearson Sound (when he was still Ramadanman) and Pangaea, James Blake, FaltyDL and Hodge to name but a handful, the label went dormant following a Ploy 12” in 2017 before the surprise announcement of Londoner Beneath’s On Tilt, which sounds every bit the sensible alliance in practice it looks on paper: These are low-end rumblers with irregular rhythms and spare melodic tics that worm their way into your brain in the best bone-humming fashion (see “Shambling” or “Lesser Circulation” for a good example). Who knows how long the return will last, but for a certain stripe of DMZ-damaged devotee and pretty much no one else, it’ll feel good to have some Hemlock in your life again. Tilt back, pour in.

Patrick Masterson

 Black Spirit— El Sueño De La Razón Produce Monstruos (Infinite Night Records)

More metal comes from South America than Spain, but these Europeans clear the high bar set by Latin America scenesters. The album’s title states that it was inspired by “El Sueño De La Razón Produce Monstruos.” That can testify both to lasting influence of Goya’s art and to the laziness of the current culture which seeks inspiration only from the most popular pictorial art of the past. The track “Ignorance and The Grotesque” perfectly captures the whole mood of the disc: it balances ignorant speeds, undecipherable vocals and grotesque parts with piano interludes and doom-ish atmosphere. It would be better without the grotesque, but that’s probably part of the baggage.

Ray Garraty

 Burial + Blackdown — Shock Power of Love EP (Keysound Recordings)

Shock Power of Love EP by Burial

You might worry, occasionally, that Burial was becoming a victim of diminishing returns. Here, as ever, he uses a narrow palette to create tracks that few can emulate. However, even though the music has its rewards, it doesn’t clear the very high bar that his previous work has set. Thus “Dark Gethsemane” rides a 4/4 beat, angelic murmurs, vinyl crackle and a tightly ratcheted build that morphs into a sermon led by the repeated invocation “We must shock this nation with the power of love.” As his vocal samples become more explicit, the mystery of his music fades. This is all promise and no real resolution. “Space Cadet’ likewise sounds both gorgeous and minor with its soul gospel refrain “Take Me Higher” over an old-school jungle beat. At six plus minutes it would have been enough. It continues another three with an almost cartoonish second movement that lacks the subtlety that characterizes Burial’s best work.

Andrew Forell 

  Colleen — The Tunnel and the Clearing (Thrill Jockey)

The Tunnel and the Clearing by Colleen

While COVID messed with most people’s lives, it was both an endgame and an opportunity for Cécile Schott, the Frenchwoman who records under the name Colleen. She was just coming out of a series of health and personal dislocations, which resulted in her being newly healthy but alone in a new town just as the lockdown came down. Clearly, this was not a time for half measures, so she selected an entirely new instrumental set-up and settled in to make a record that reflected what she’d been through. Out went the viola da gamba and melodica that have figured prominently on her last few albums; in came a Moog synthesizer, a Yamaha organ, a tape echo and a drum machine.  

Colleen’s voice, of course, remains the same. Airy and precise, her delivery doesn’t match the gravity of the experiences her songs describe. But that sense of remove is, perhaps, a reflection of one of adversity’s lessons; if you don’t stay stuck, you can wind up somewhere quite different. Between the keyboards’ cycling melodies and the drum machine’s fizzy beats, the music on The Tunnel and the Clearing imparts a sense of motion that carries her light voice along for the ride, dropping painful sentiments and letting them fall behind.

Bill Meyer  

 Current Joys — Voyager (Secretly Canadian)

Nick Rattigan has been releasing music under the name Current Joys since 2013, and Voyager is his latest offering. It’s a dramatic and often brilliant collection of songs, bringing to mind the urgent rhythmic drive of Spoon, the dour grandeur of The Cure and the unapologetic emotional heft of Bright Eyes or early Arcade Fire. On Voyager’s standout, “American Honey,” a simple strummed backing and Rattigan’s vocal delivery are potent enough, but it’s the string section that proves devastating, cycling around for multiple punches to the gut. While more stripped-back songs such as “Big Star” and “The Spirit or the Curse” offer some respite along the way, Voyager does prove a little unwieldy. With 16 tracks clocking in at nearly an hour, the album’s execution doesn’t quite live up to its ambition. The wonky tom-tom rhythms of “Breaking the Waves” are more distracting than interesting; a serviceable cover of Rowland S. Howard’s “Shivers” feels more like an acknowledgment of influence than a striking interpretation; and the combined six minutes of the two-part instrumental title track may have worked better as shorter interludes. Nevertheless, plenty of Voyager’s tracks demonstrate Rattigan’s knack for a raw, emotive indie-rock tune.

Tim Clarke

 Ducks Ltd — Get Bleak EP (Carpark Records)

Toronto duo Ducks Ltd celebrates signing to Carpark with an expanded re-release of their 2018 debut EP Get Bleak. The pair — Tom Mcgreevy on vocals, rhythm and bass guitars and Evan Lewis on lead guitar — bonded over a shared love of 1980s indie bands. Their intricately constructed guitar interplay carries the DNA of Postcard and C86 over meaty bass lines that evoke Mighty Mighty as much as Orange Juice and McCarthy. The sprightly music belies the miserablism of the lyrics that focus on FOMO, poor decisions, screen induced isolation, the corrosive impact of gentrification and gig economies. Mcgreevy and Lewis don’t wallow, however. Their jaunty jangle is a paean to the joys of jumping about and singing along with those new favorite songs that suddenly mean everything and will stick with you long after the world’s shit slopes your shoulders.

Andrew Forell

 Field Music — Flat White Moon (Memphis Industries)

It’s easy to take Field Music for granted. Since 2005, the Brewis brothers have been making smartly composed and tightly executed guitar pop with obvious debts to The Beatles and XTC, and all their albums have fallen somewhere along the continuum from good to great (my personal favorites are 2010’s Measure and 2012’s Plumb). Album number eight, Flat White Moon, features the usual balance between Peter’s more pensive, bittersweet numbers with greater focus on piano and strings, such as “Orion From the Street” and “When You Last Heard From Linda,” and David’s funkier, more staccato cuts, such as “No Pressure” and “I’m the One Who Wants to Be With You.” Twelve songs, 40 minutes, tunes for days — what’s not to love? If you’ve yet to get acquainted with Field Music, Flat White Moon is as good an introduction as any.

Tim Clarke 

 Gabby Fluke-Mogul/Jacob Felix Heule/Kanoko Nishi-Smith — Non-Dweller (Humbler)

non-dweller by gabby fluke-mogul, Jacob Felix Heule, & Kanoko Nishi-Smith

With Non-Dweller, we have a trio of Bay-Area improvisers who certainly do not reside in one place for very long. There is an agitated freneticism about their interactions here, the performers acting like electrons seeking to release energy and break out of orbit. Each player brings a unique collection of timbres to the party with their implement of choice. Heule is a percussionist by trade yet focuses on extended techniques — mainly friction-based — as he wrests an unholy wail from the maw of his bass drum. Fluke-Mogul’s violin sways between tone generator and noise source. Nishi-Smith is a classically trained pianist who here is bowing and plucking the koto, or Japanese zither. The trio spend most of their time in sparring mode, their energies unleashed with synchrony as if in an elaborate dance. It is clear they have collaborated before. Heule and Nishi-Smith have been at it for over a decade; Fluke-Mogul joined the party in 2019. The most gorgeous moments happen when all three players are focused on friction: Heule slides across his drum, Fluke-Mogul soars with their violin and Nishi-Smith gracefully bows her koto. The energy is focused and particles collide, creating waves of tone. The players wrestle intensity into submission, and the ensuing sonorities are unmissable.

Bryon Hayes

 FMB DZ — War Zone (Fast Money Boyz \ EMPIRE)

Ever since FMB DZ got shot and moved out of Detroit, he has continued to release angry music. (He may not be more productive after the assault, but he’s certainly not less so.) War Zone is his latest effort, along with The Gift 3 and Ape Season, and DZ is back in his paranoiac mode and ready for vengeance. That’s hardly unusual in this type of music but DZ stands out because he’s a bit angrier, a bit more pressing and a bit more gifted than the next man. He doesn’t outdo himself in this tape, but rather mostly follows the blueprint of Ape Season. The standout track is “Spin Again.”

Ray Garraty

 Ian M Fraser — Berserk (Superpang)

Berserk by Ian M Fraser

Ian M Fraser is kind enough to provide details about how he created and edited Berserk, although relatively few listeners are going to really know what “nonlinear feedback systems and waveset synthesis” are, let alone “sensormonitor primitives auditory perception software”. And fewer still will be able to focus on what that might mean while Berserk is actually playing, because the output of those programs and systems is immediately, viscerally clear. If a computer were actually capable of going rabid, feral, well, berserk, the human mind might imagine it sounds something like this. Over four shorter tracks and the relatively epic 8:26 of “The Cannibal,” Fraser either coaxes or allows (or both) his tools into the equivalent of something like what someone who knew very little about both genres might imagine is like a power electronics act playing free jazz or vice versa. It is absolutely viscerally thrilling (albeit probably easier to repeat at this length of 16 minutes than, say, 50) and will do the track the next time you feel like your brain needs a good hard scrub.

Ian Mathers 

  Human Failure — Crown on the Head of a King of Mud (Sentient Ruin Laboratories)

Crown on the Head of a King of Mud by Human Failure

It’s tough to figure out if the band’s name is meant specifically to apply to D. Cornejo (sole member of Human Failure) or to the general field of human failure, which grows ever more capacious. Whatever the intent, Human Failure makes thoroughly unlovable music, pitched somewhere on the continuum that runs from the primitivist death metal to stenchcore to harsh noise. This reviewer is especially fond (yep, somehow that’s the only word for it) of the title track of this 10” record: “Crown on the Head of a King of Mud” sloughs and slogs along for two minutes, sort of like one of the ripest zombies in Romero’s Day of the Dead (1985), wandering about and slowly falling to pieces in Florida’s tumid heat. Just as that last bit of flesh is poised to slide from bone, the song unexpectedly breaks into a run. Where is it going? What’s the rush? No one knows. Things eventually bottom out into “Disassembling Morality,” a static-and-distortion laden electronic interlude that might squeak and spark for a bit too long — but then “Your Hope Is a Noose” shambles into the frame. That zombie seems to have found some equally noisome and truculent friends. They djent and pogo around for a while, and the song has a lot more fun than seems called for by the band name. Cornejo might be pissed off by the myriad manmade disasters and outright catastrophes that burden the earthball (he’s sure angry as heck about something…). But the record ends up being sort of successful, if deafening, grinding, growling stench is on the agenda. All things considered, why wouldn’t it be?

Jonathan Shaw

 Insub Meta Orchestra — Ten / Sync (Insub)

Ten / Sync by INSUB META ORCHESTRA

Ten / Sync was recorded in September, 2020; not exactly lockdown time, but certainly not out of the pandemic woods. It’s no small task to keep any 50-strong orchestra going, let alone one devoted to experimental music. So, if you already have one, then having it perform during a pandemic is just another challenge among many. So, the Swiss-based orchestra assembled three groups of musicians, numbering 31 in all, and assembled their contributions during post-production. While this did not provide the social experience that IMO’s gatherings usually impart to participants, an outcome that just isn’t the same seems awfully representative of the time, right? And since one Insub Meta Orchestra subspeciality is making music that sounds like it was performed by many fewer players than were actually present, this collection of sustained chords concealing tiny actions and apparently disassembled passages is actually very representative of the ensemble’s music.

Bill Meyer

Amirtha Kidambi & Matteo Liberatore — Neutral Love (Astral Editions)

Neutral Love by Amirtha Kidambi & Matteo Liberatore

With her own group, the Elder Ones, and in Mary Halvorson’s Code Girl, singer Amirtha Kidambi shows how far you can take a song while still giving the meanings of words and the boundaries of form their dues. But Neutral Love, like her two tapes with Lea Bertucci, explores the territory outside the tower of song. The main structures for this improvised encounter with electric guitarist Matteo Liberatore seem to be a shared agreement to exclude certain options. Song form and overt displays of chops are right out; the patient manipulation of sounds is where it’s at. Liberatore opts mostly for swelling and subsiding resonations, while Kidambi spends a lot of time finding out what’s hiding at the back of her throat, drawing it out, and then tying it into elaborate shapes. Patient and eerie, these four tracks find a place adjacent to Charalambides at their most abstract, and make it their own.

Bill Meyer

 Kosmodemonic — Liminal Light (Transylvanian Recordings)

KOSMODEMONIC - LIMINAL LIGHT by KOSMODEMONIC

NYC outfit Kosmodemonic is among the recent wave of metal bands attempting to effect an organic-sounding synthesis of numerous subgenres: a slurry of sludge, a bit of black metal, a dose of doom, and a hit or two of the lysergic. When it works — as it does on a number of tracks on the band’s long new cassette Liminal Light — it’s an exciting sound. Songs like “Moirai” and “Broken Crown” manage to couple tuneful riffs, dirty tone and a muscular bottom end in ways that feel thumping, groovy and pretty weird. You’ll want to bump your butt around even as you’re looking for something to break. But the tape is pretty long, and the further afield Kosmodemonic gets from that mid-tempo groove, the more middling (and sometimes muddled) the material sounds. “With Majesty” can’t quite find its rhythmic footing in its more technical passages, and the song’s sludgier sections feel like compromises, rather than interesting maneuvers. But the record begins and finishes with really strong songs. Both “Drown in Drone” and “Unnaming Unlearning” embrace scale, letting their big riffs rip. When “Unnaming Unlearning” slips into complex sections of blackened and distorted dissonance, the drama surges. Formal experiment and manipulation of mood fold into each other. The song gets interesting, even as it’s reaching for a peak. And then it ends, suddenly, violently. It’s pretty good. Your impulse is to flip the tape and hear it again, which is just what Kosmodemonic wants you to do. Well played, dudes.

Jonathan Shaw

 Sarah Louise — Earth Bow (Self-Released)

Earth Bow by Sarah Louise

Asheville-based songwriter Sarah Louise wants to be your personal nature interpreter. The titles of her recordings, from her debut Field Guide through Deeper Woods and Nighttime Birds and Morning Stars are like planetary signposts pointing to a more intimate relationship with our planet as a living organism. With each successive release, her music has also become more and more organic sounding, culminating with Earth Bow, in which Louise herself is arms deep in humus, communing with birds and insects. Recordings of creation feature prominently; katydids, spring peeper frogs, a creek and various birds are credited as providing additional singing, augmenting the artist’s own mellifluous voice. For a recording in which the track titles and lyrics are focused on nature and Louise’s experiences therein, there are a lot of digital elements. Her 12-string guitar is prominent in places, but synths are everywhere: in the background, bouncing around like shooting stars, and mimicking the various fauna that they accompany. Yet the earthly and the machine-made are not juxtaposed, they are blended. The vocals, which center the recordings, tie both elements together nicely. Earth Bow is a tasty concoction, in which a variety of ingredients are married in botanical bliss.

Bryon Hayes

 Le Mav — “Supersonic (Feat. Tay Iwar)” (Immaculate Taste)

Nigeria’s alté scene has been bubbling for a couple of years now on the backs of guys like Odunsi (The Engine) and Santi, and Gabriel Obi bka Le Mav is no stranger to the fray, having produced Santi’s “Sparky,” Aylø and a recurring favorite of his, singer Tay Iwar. The two have already collaborated at length (for songs off Iwar’s debut album Gemini in 2019, as well as the entirety of last year’s Gold EP), so the comfort level here is established. It shows: Iwar’s smooth-as vocals match Le Mav’s breezy piano descent and gentle rhythmic shuffle in an easygoing song that matches anything you might hear coming from Miguel, Frank Ocean or the Sun-El Musician orbit. “If it feels right, touch the sky,” Iwar suggests early on. Well, don’t mind if I do.

Patrick Masterson

 Sugar Minott — “I Remember Mama” (Emotional Rescue)

I Remember Mama by Sugar Minott

At some point after Lincoln Barrington Minott had left Kingston and his early dancehall and lovers rock legacy with Studio One and Black Roots behind for cooler climates and the old world of London, he ran into producer Steve Parr at the Wackies offices. Story goes that the two decided to start up Sound Design Studio with the intent to record and mix for ads, film and music — but scant evidence of this idea exists beyond “I Remember Mama,” released on 7” and 12” in 1985 and reissued for the first time since via Stuart Leath and his long-trusted Emotional Rescue imprint. Parr does most of the work on the recording (Andy MacDonald shines on tenor sax and Paul Uden guitar in the original credits), but it’s all about the sweetness Sugar brings to the table: With backing from two accomplished performers in their own right, Janette Sewell and Shola Phillips, Minott’s naturally relaxed delivery shines through on this. “Sound Design” is a dubbier instrumental version that retains Sewell’s and Phillips’ vocals, and Dan Tyler (half of Idjut Boys) provides an even spacier, handclap-laden 11-minute remix, but while both variants are excellent, the boogie of the original is unassailable. Look for the vinyl to hit in July.

Patrick Masterson

 Jessica Ackerley — Morning/mourning (Cacophonous Revival)

Morning/mourning by Jessica Ackerley

It makes sense that Wendy Eisenberg wrote the liner notes to Morning/mourning, since they and Jessica Ackerley are bound by a shared commitment to string-craft. Both have a deep idiomatic foundation in jazz guitar, but neither is willing to be confined by what they’ve learned. In the case of Morning/mourning, that means that patiently paced ruminations upon Derek Bailey-like harmonics sit side by side with frantic but rigorously scripted forays that sound a bit like Jim Hall might if he input the contents of his French press intravenously. This album’s nine tracks observe passings and new beginnings, since Ackerley pulled the recording together while in quarantine, shortly before leaving Manhattan for Honolulu, and titled some of them in tribute to a pair of guitar teachers who were taken by 2020. But in their attention to tone, harmony, velocity and structure, these pieces, like Eisenberg’s records, speak as much to intellect as to emotion.

Bill Meyer

 Nadja & Disrotted — Split (Roman Numeral Records)

It makes a certain kind of sense for Nadja and Disrotted to tackle a split together; although both bands traffic in a particularly foreboding strain of doom metal, they also share a weird sort of comfort. There’s a sense more of horrible things happening around you than to you, like you’re in the eye of the storm or maybe in a bathysphere plunged to crushing depths. There is a precision to the menace, a measured quality to the noise. And they get there when they get there; as Dusted’s Jonathan Shaw pointed out in his review of Disrotted’s Cryongenics, “Pace seems to be the point.” This excellent split doesn’t shy away from these commonalities while still highlighting the distinct timbres of each act, with Nadja settling into and then returning to one of their indelibly titanic bass riffs throughout the 19-minute “From the Lips of a Ghost in the Shadow of a Unicorn's Dream” and Disrotted somehow conjuring the feeling of a massive structure corroding and collapsing on the 15-minute “Pastures for the Benighted”. When the latter slams to a half, one last hit echoing away, the listener may find themselves feeling equally relieved the onslaught is over and kind of missing both sides’ pulverizing embrace.

Ian Mathers 

 Nasimiyu — POTIONS (Figureight)

P O T I O N S by nasimiYu

Nasimiyu’s songs bounce and shimmy with complex rhythms, her background as a dancer and percussionist for Kabells and Sharkmuffin coming through in the intricate interplay of handclaps, breathy beat-boxing, rattling metal implements, all manner of drums and, not least, her lithe, twining vocal lines. “Watercolor” blossoms out of a burst of choral “la”s, each note allowed to flower briefly before behind cut off with a knife-edge; these are organic sounds shaped with mechanical precision. Against this background, Nasimiyu herself enters, her voice fluttery and syncopated, a bit like Neneh Cherry. The mix is full of separate elements, the backing vocals, a synthesizer working as a bass, handclaps, Nasimiyu’s singing, but the song remains light and translucent. “Feelings,” sings Nasimiyu, “I am in my feelings,” and so, for a moment, are we. Nasimiyu is half Kenyan and half Scandinavian-American, and you can hear a bit of East Africa in the surging sweetness of choral singing on “Immigrant Hustle.” But there’s a post-modern gloss over everything, as the singer brings in sonic elements from jazz, electronica, dance, pop and afro-beat. Yet however many layers are added, the sound remains bright and clear, a bead curtain of musical sensation whose elements click faintly as they brush together, but remain essentially separate.

Jennifer Kelly

 Carlos Niño & Friends — More Energy Fields, Current (International Anthem)

More Energy Fields, Current by Carlos Niño & Friends

Multi-instrumentalist and producer Carlos Niño latest album which straddles and largely crosses the line between spiritual jazz and new age ambience features friends from both worlds including Shabaka Hutchings, Jamael Dean, Dntel and Laraaji. Niño, who plays percussion and synthesizer, edited, mixed and produced the album from recordings made in 2019 and 2020 in a variety of settings. The results are largely low-key soundscapes designed to assist meditation on the fields and current of the title. Much evocation of the natural world, chiming eastern influenced percussion and layers of acoustic and synthetic keys that are lovely but tend to lull. It is the slightly disruptive reeds that prick the ears here, Aaron Hall’s plangent tenor on “Now the background is foreground,” Devin Daniels’ alto phrasing on “Together” and Hutchings’ expressive duet with Dean on “Please, wake up.”

Andrew Forell 

 Shane Parish — Disintegrated Satellites (Bandcamp subscription)

Disintegrated Satellites EP by Shane Parish

The normally ultra-productive Shane Parish didn’t put out a lot of music in 2020, and none of what did come out was recorded that year. It turns out that he was busy giving guitar lessons via zoom and moving from North Carolina to Georgia, but we’re well into a new year and he’s back in Bandcamp. This three tune EP doesn’t declare a new direction, of which Parish has had many, so much as an integration of his interests in American folk music and far Eastern tonalities. Simultaneously familiar and alien, but above all propulsive, it serves notice that the time for reflection has passed.

Bill Meyer 

 Séketxe — “Caixão de Luxo” (Chasing Dreams)

The thing that gets your attention about Séketxe is… well, everything: how many of them there are (i.e., how you can’t really tell who’s in the group and who isn’t), how they’re all propellant, a musical bottle rocket bursting out of your speakers, confrontationally in your face on camera — and how much fun it looks like they’re having. Somewhere out there beyond the reaches of kuduro and Mystikal lie the Angolan barks and rasps of this youthful sextet, who trade verses (and a soothing harmony drizzled right across the madness at around 1:40) among one another over an Eddy Tussa sample on a beat by producer about town Smash Midas. What are they on about? My Portuguese is nonexistent, let alone my Luandan slang, but even I can tell that title translates to “luxury casket.” Anyway, it’s bonkers and if you’re looking for a jolt your morning joe doesn’t deliver anymore, Séketxe oughta do it. You’ll never catch me thanking an algorithm, but I guess it’s true the maths can serve it up right every once in a while. Séketxe is the proof.

Patrick Masterson 

 Tōth — You and Me and Everything (Northern Spy)

You And Me And Everything by Tōth

The title of Alex Toth’s solo debut, Practice Magic and Seek Professional Help When Necessary, alludes to his belief in music as therapy — that there’s an alchemy in the process, yet one that can’t necessarily be depended on to pull you out of an emotional hole when that hole gets too deep. On his new album, You and Me and Everything, all of his recent personal struggles are out in the open. There’s the tale of when he was so fucked up he couldn’t play trumpet at a family funeral (“Turnaround (Cocaine Song)”); there’s leaning on songwriting as a means to process the pain of heartbreak (“Guitars are Better Than Synthesizers for Writing Through Hard Times”); and there’s his ongoing battle with anxiety (“Butterflies”). While such heavy emotional terrain could prove hard-going, Toth approaches everything with a playfulness, a lightness of touch and a gentle haze to the production. Plus, he gets a helping hand from Jenn Wasner (Wye Oak, Flock of Dimes), who lends backing vocals to standout “Daffadowndilly,” which taps into the woozy gorgeousness of prime Robert Wyatt.

Tim Clarke 

 Mara Winter — Rise, follow (Discreet Editions)

Rise, follow by Mara Winter

For people with busy performance schedules, 2020 posed a problem; how do you stay busy and creative when you can’t do what you usually do? Mara Winter, an American-born, Swiss-based flute player who specializes in Renaissance-era repertoire and instruments, used it to forge a new creative identity. In partnership with experimental composer and multi-instrumentalist Clara de Asís, she began exploring the commonalities between early, composed music and contemporary approaches and developed a platform to disseminate documents of that research into the world. Rise, follow, the inaugural release of Discreet Editions, is an hour-long piece for two Renaissance-style bass flutes played by Winter and Johanna Bartz. The two musicians played long, overlapping tones with contrast attacks, pushing on until they grew so tired from hefting those woodwinds that they just couldn’t play anymore. Effectively the performance unit is a trio, since the two musicians had to accommodate or collaborate with the reverberant acoustics of Basel’s Kartäuserkirche. The church’s echo threw sounds back at the player, turning pure tones into blurred timbres. While the instrumentation is antique, the ideas about sound combination and endurance have more to do with Morton Feldman, Phill Niblock and Aíne O’Dwyer. The result is music that is simultaneously meditative and as heavy as a bench-pressing competition.

Bill Meyer

 Wurld Series — What’s Growing (Melted Ice Cream)

What's Growing by Wurld Series

Some reviewers of What’s Growing, the second album by New Zealand’s Wurld Series, have managed to avoid making Pavement comparisons, but it’s hard to fathom their restraint. Brief opener “Harvester” feels like you’re being dropped mid-solo into a random Wowee Zowee track; the guitar tone on lead single “Nap Gate,” on the other hand, sounds like it's nicked straight from Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain. And while singer/guitarist Luke Towart doesn’t attempt to match Malkmus’ flamboyance in the vocal delivery department, their voices and wry lyrical observations bear a distinct resemblance to one another. “Caught beneath a dull blade / What a mess that would make” he sings on “Distant Business” before the song reaches its finale where guitar solos blast off from atop other guitar solos in an array of complementary textures. But besides being a ridiculously fun guitar pop record, What’s Growing is also threaded through with a British psych folk vibe replete with Mellotron flute — and the two styles blend seamlessly together thanks to Towart’s partner in crime, producer/drummer Brian Feary (Salad Boys, Dance Asthmatics). So, whether you're looking for a great summer indie rock record or you’ve ever wondered what the Fab Five from Stockton might’ve sounded like if they’d stuck to short songs and had more flutes, this one’s for you.

Chris Liberato