ESOTERIC EUPHONY

I kept thinking I'd see actors and dancers:

The most baffling, challenging scenarios were presented- yet accompanied by slightly bemused, ironic vocals, in which the persona singing was distant, removed. It was jarring and dissonant- yet the music was at times bouncy, pop- inflected, even playful.

Themes like spiritual danger and possession, or bullying, or the harrowing experiences of runaway children who must do what it takes to survive- yet somehow maintain hope they can succeed- all sung with insouciant cool remoteness, all accompanied by cinematic song-writing bliss.

It throws the listener off-plumb:

And maybe that's the point, or maybe that's because I'm already more than a little off-plumb. Lyrics about abject failure, sung in that ironic, coolly removed style. The track itself is heavier than some of the others, and jumps right in, with some cool bass lines backing that vocalist.

I thought, "Until you get used to this almost casual, off-hand treatment of all manner of horrors, it won't make any sense."

But then, if you accept that premise, the album gels:

There are the bluesy, subtle guitar lines Han brings to bear in "Chasing Intentions", the imaginative drumming in "The Storyteller", and the way male and female vocals mix and match to create a kind of cinematic flavor.

The point on this album is subtlety, tone, feel, texture, melody- rather than bombast, or instrumental overkill.

For me, "Runaway" is the focal point.

Here's a song that tugged at me, describing the desperation of the experience of well, how many children and adolescents? How many cast away, or feeling unwelcome and unwanted, how many selling themselves for whatever measures of comfort they can have?

And all wrapped in that cool, ironic blanket of playful instrumentation and at-a-remove vocal style.

In conclusion:

An album, that once you accept these premises, delivers a strangely stirring, slightly upsetting message.

3.5 dramatic dissonances.

Originally published in progressiverockfanatics.wordpress.com

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