ALBUM REVIEW: Sophie Yera - Final Girl

Sophie Yera's Final Girl is a swirling, atmospheric alt-pop extravaganza that makes for a compelling debut.

Reviewed by Alex "Ash" Han

AUTHOR'S NOTE: As always, before reading this review, please support Sophie Yera and stream Final Girl! Sophie's Linktree contains links where you can stream the project on all platforms.

 

I WAS A STRANGER TO THE MUSIC of Sophie Yera until we crossed paths (albeit as strangers, at least at the time) in a listening session two or three semesters ago, in what was then called Collegium. It was there that Sophie's version of the Gnarls Barkley track "Crazy" first saw the light of day. As a listener at the time, I remembered being intrigued by the decision to open one's introduction to the MTech community with a cover song, but also being no less impressed by the radical restructuring of the track into a rendition that felt very much unique. I believe it was the following semester (or maybe the following academic year? Jesus, I'm getting old & my memory's slipping) when Sophie made her debut on the MTech Invasion stage at last November's Invasion 2.0, followed by a sequel appearance just last month at Invasion 3. On both occasions, she showcased a strong stage presence marked by a high-fashion aesthetic and a plaintive vocal style, accompanied by enticing glimpses into the material which today finds itself at the focus of this article. Sophie Yera's debut LP, Final Girl, comes three years after her 2021 4-song EP Bad Trip. At a compact seven tracks in length, the album was nonetheless accompanied by an impressive promotional effort, consisting of not only both Invasion performances but also a sizeable Instagram promo run that drew plenty of attention from inside MTech. Having remained mostly unfamiliar with Sophie's music outside of the limited exposure I'd had from sharing the stage with her at Invasion, I went into this project more intrigued than anything to see how her live stage presence would translate to the studio, and just what that would mean for how listeners would begin to perceive Sophie Yera as an artist.

The LP opens with "Crazy", a swirling, atmospheric reinterpretation of the 2006 Gnarls Barkley classic. Sophie brings an airy, disaffected vocal performance over luscious synth pads and a steady sub bass—definitely a heavy vibe switch from the original's spaghetti-Western string samples and dusty drum groove. The song's structure also appears to have been altered slightly, with an extra prechorus added near the beginning, introducing a steady four-on-the-floor kick drum augmented by some distant reverb. On first listen, I wasn't sure I was a fan of the slow burn restructuring of the track; I found that I missed the relentless, pounding momentum of the Gnarls Barkley original, and the vocals had a slightly telephonic, sibilant quality to them that I didn't love. Right before the track's chorus, though, there is a moment where Sophie's lead vocal trails off into nothing as the pads hang in the air a bit and the kick pulse fades away into a reverby soup—the track lets us breathe for just a second or two before the drums come crashing in and Sophie's distorted, keening belt roars into focus. The beat drop on this track goes super hard; I love the sound selection of the giant, cinematic pads and the pseudo-trap drums that harken back to the dusty, apocalyptic quality of the original song. Sophie's vocal sound is also really nice here, fed through a distorted amp sim that gives enough harshness and character to really advance the unhinged, off-the-rails nature of the performance without sacrificing too much intelligibility. This one chorus is all we get, however, as the track soon drops into its outro section, buoyed by an octave-shifted vocal that takes us down and out of the song. As much respect as I do have for the decision to open the album with a reinterpretation of a song that is as much of a timeless classic as this one is, I found Sophie's take on the song to be novel and tasteful, keeping the track's meteoric chorus and rapturous atmosphere while also radically reformatting its structure to accommodate the long buildup and cathartic drop into the chorus. I did feel as though the engineering on this track left a little to be desired—the mix feels a little hollow, with plenty of sub bass and an abundance of high-end frequency content, but without much in the way of low mids to fill the track out and give it a solid foundation. Nonetheless, the track does make for a strong opener, albeit one that left me curious to hear what Sophie's own writing would bring to the album's narrative & style on subsequent tracks.

A steady kick drum and distorted, trippy synth bass opens the album's second track, "Crystal Lake", which also features contributions from Space Hotel. Sophie contributes a number of stacked layers—a distant, legato series of backing vocals, a breezy, apathetic lead vocal, several almost-intelligible whispers that tease the listener with snatches of lyrics here and there. I was really struck by the sound design on this track, which combines retro, warm, slightly wobbly synth patches with punchy, modern, in-your-face drums to create a convincingly vintage horror-movie-like atmosphere. Sophie's delivery here reminds me of a cross between Elizabeth Fraser and Tate McRae, combining current post-Billie Eilish and Lizzy McAlpine airy whisper-vocals with an almost-shoegaze set of inflections that obscure and smear lyrics in favor of creating a cavernous, glassy soundscape. I found that I had trouble understanding a lot of the lyrics for this song, which likely meant the narrative of the track escaped my grasp somewhat, but this wasn't necessarily a point of contention with the track for me. Its approach to creating an atmosphere through sound design nevertheless left an impression with me, and provided an intriguing first glimpse into Sophie's artistic identity.

"Gone Girl" switches up the vibe again, opening with a woozy, washed-out minor acoustic guitar recording augmented with either static or the sound of distant rain. Soon enough, Sophie's trademark heavy kick pulse and ominous synthesizers enter alongside, providing the track with an instant increase in scale, propelling it to titanic, cinematic heights. Sophie delivers a deadpan first verse, discussing a breakup through a disaffected veil that belies a complicated emotional context underneath the surface. The track's next section sees her drift into a lilting, airy falsetto through a hefty dose of Autotune, giving her a robotic edge that I really enjoyed. The touches of reverby, tremolo-heavy electric guitar were a really nice touch that lent a distinctly James Bond sort of feel to the track's soundscape. The track's last verse, where Sophie's spoken deadpan and Autotuned head voice trade lines in tandem, felt like a solid way to end off the track. I nonetheless felt a little confused by this one, specifically in regards to its structure, or lack thereof; on first listen, I found myself having been fooled multiple times into thinking I was hearing a chorus, only to later realize that none of the sections I identified repeated or formed any sort of tangible hook. I suppose I respect Sophie's commitment to through-composed songwriting, but I think on a track like this, I would have preferred the lyrics to be a little more intelligible in order to understand the emotional arc a bit better. I still very much enjoyed Sophie's experimentation with regards to her vocal chain on this one, and her ability to create a swirling, dark soundscape remained as strong as ever.

Track 4 is called "Drew's Interlude", and opens with a true gut punch of a line ("I can't keep you safe from me"), which is perhaps one of my favorite lines on the album. The soundscape on this track is a little more superficially upbeat than on the tracks that preceded it, with plenty of sparkly synth chords and tinkly bells providing an interesting contrast to the song's firmly minor-key aesthetic. The subtle open hats, steady kick, and subdued clap samples lend the track a really strong groove, perhaps the most danceable on the album so far, drawing some sonic influence from The Weeknd and Dua Lipa's experimentation with the dark '80s/new wave aesthetic. The dynamic motion of the track is also maintained really well, with elements constantly dropping out and reappearing to create clear sections and movement. The bridge also sees one of my favorite vocal moments from Sophie on the album, as her vocal steadily builds towards plaintive, pleading high notes that sound excellent as she asks, "Am I the cause?" over and over. After listening a couple times, "Drew's Interlude" is a personal highlight from the album for me. The track's strong chorus, heartfelt lyricism, and danceable groove all merge together into a juggernaut pop song that made a very strong case for Sophie's unique talents as a songwriter and performer.

"This album is a reflection of my experiences of the past few years of college… Musically, I was inspired by Grimes, Lil Peep, Ethel Cain, and Gorillaz." –Sophie Yera

 

"Till Death Do Us Part" keeps the dance aesthetic going, opening with heavily-sidechained synth chords that articulate sweet seventh chords over a subdued, chill drum groove. Sophie's vocal layering came through especially nicely here, with some tight doubles reinforcing and bulking up the lead vocal without smearing over the lyrics too much; the overall styling reminded me a lot of MGMT and Empire of the Sun, an aesthetic Sophie pulls off remarkably well. The track's chorus is also really strong, with a slight switch in the chord progression providing us with a sense of forward movement to accompany the repetitions of "I think I'm free". The second verse also brings a handful of fun vocal moments, such as the literal pause for breath after the line "I feel like I can finally breathe", which put a smile on my face! "Till Death Do Us Part" was another favorite of mine, representing the album's continued shift towards a heavier dancepop aesthetic. The track's catchy melodies & sublime production together make a rather strong showcase that Sophie can hold her own as a dancepop artist as well as in the dark & atmospheric soundscapes that outlined much of the album's first half.

The album's penultimate track, "BLACKOUT", opens with a minor guitar line that very much reminds me of early 2000s post-grunge bands like Fuel and Puddle of Mudd, pairing a woozy, broken-chords pattern with a soaring, distorted lead. The pairing of the guitar line with the thick sub and flickering trap drums makes for a combo I actually really enjoyed, again calling back to The Weeknd's mid-2010s output. Sophie's octave-doubled vocal, paired with a distorted, pitch-shifted version of itself, creates a suitably demented atmosphere without reducing intelligibility too much. Her lyrics discuss the sensation of being too drunk after a night of clubbing, a subject she manages to portray in a uniquely slinky, menacing manner on account of the track's dark musicality and reverb-heavy percussion. With the track's catchy repeated chorus of "I can't feel anything at all" and strong verses combined with the grungy trap instrumental, this track is a definite vibe switch that nonetheless gels perfectly with Sophie's aesthetic. "BLACKOUT" was another definite standout track for me, and one that I'll definitely continue listening to down the road!

The album closes with its title track, which opens with a dramatic string orchestra and synth pads together in tandem as Sophie whispers distantly from the background. On first listen, I wish I could understand the whispered vocal a little better in order to get at the narrative of the album a little more. The synth pads support while at once ceding the spotlight to Sophie's theatrical vocal performance, as she meditates on every iteration of herself she's been through in order to reach this point. Like the opener, this track embraces a sort of slow burn aesthetic, staying in a stripped-back downtempo soundscape for much of the track's duration before bringing in some drums and upping the pulse in the track's outro section, which sees Sophie distantly belting out some sustained melodic lines in a way that almost reminds me a little of Pink Floyd's "The Great Gig in the Sky" off of The Dark Side of the Moon. Part of me does wish this outro soared a little bit more—I found myself really wishing for a greater sense of catharsis, whether that means more aggressive drums, a more beefy instrumental, a more freeing vocal performance from Sophie. As much as I do respect the decision to keep it a little more constrained and lowkey, I felt like it didn't fully deliver the sense of closure I wanted to really wrap up this album. All the same, though, maybe leaving it slightly open-ended is intentional, and serves a larger purpose I'm not fully seeing—so I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. Either way, this title track does an excellent job at stripping back the layers of persona progressively built up over the album in attempt to remind us of Sophie's very human vulnerabilities once more.

Looking back on Final Girl as a whole, I think it makes for a commendable debut project that does a lot to solidify Sophie's artistic identity. The moody, synthy, atmospheric production and detached, slightly deadpan vocal stylings over steady, resolute drum grooves paints a clear picture of the under-the-surface emotional turmoil that drove this album's creation. Indeed, Sophie's skill in using sound design and production to create vivid images is a potent strength of this project. The use of reverb in combination with dark synth patches creates a consistent vibe that matches much of the promotional material for this project—heavy with grays and blacks, the life & color squeezed from the landscape like the sickly pale of the recently departed. Sophie's vocal style descends from the school of Lorde, and more recently, Billie Eilish, embracing a similar teen Goth/alternative pop aesthetic in its detachment from explicit emotion. Additionally, as a writer of melodies, Sophie proves to be capable of penning catchy melodic shapes that do a consistently excellent job at hooking the listener's ear. In this way, Final Girl does a lot to highlight and showcase many of the artistic strengths that make Sophie Yera unique.

 

"The album explores themes of adolescence, love, friendship, and betrayal through the lens of the final girl archetype. I was really inspired by this trope found in horror films because I'm a cinephile." –Sophie Yera

I do have a couple points of contention with the project, though, some more nitpicky than others! I think that the project could have started and ended more strongly—the use of two slow burn-style tracks for both the opener and the closer was something that I felt robbed the album of some of the energy of its opening entrance and the closure & catharsis of its stage exit. I found that the vocal mixes on many of the tracks, especially the more atmospheric tracks ("Crystal Lake", "Gone Girl", the title track, and the opening half of "Crazy" most of all) had a tendency to lean towards being telephonic, sweeping out a ton of low-mid frequency information and accenting sibilant frequencies in a way that ended up making them slightly piercing. Under normal circumstances, this might not have impacted my enjoyment of the project too much, but the aforementioned vocal mixing decisions in synergy with the liberal use of reverb had the combined effect of smearing out Sophie's lyrics, rendering them quite difficult to understand on a lot of tracks. Try as I might across multiple listens, I was unable to discern what was being said at many moments throughout the project. As a result, I'm afraid that the higher themes and overarching narrative of this project mostly eluded me and remained beyond my understanding—which is a shame, since the stated premise of Final Girl being based upon the eponymous horror movie archetype is an intriguing one, and I wish I was able to delve further into Sophie's exploration of that idea. Of course, there are exceptions to this issue; "Till Death Do Us Part" and "BLACKOUT" especially were generally easy to follow, but this felt like too little material for me to draw sweeping conclusions about the themes of the project as a whole. (It's also likely no small coincidence that the three tracks I found most intelligible are likely my favorites from the album overall.) It pains me to say, but I feel as though I am still uncertain about what exactly Sophie's story is. While Sophie's showcase of her artistic aesthetic and sonic image is a very strong one, the resultant lack of insight into her songwriting and lyrics leaves something of a blank spot in the album's lasting impression—which is a part of this debut project I cannot ignore.

Still, though, there are a great many things this project does well. Maybe this is just me waxing nostalgic for a moment, but I actually found that it reminded me a lot of my own debut project in a lot of ways: rough around the edges in some areas, sure, but no less earnest & heartfelt in its illumination of what the path ahead might look for Sophie. The album's forays into uptempo dance on "Drew's Interlude" and "Till Death Do Us Part" were undoubtedly my favorite moments on the project, followed closely by the exploration of grungy pop-trap on "BLACKOUT"; all three tracks show very exciting glimpses into very catchy alt-pop territory that feels very her, and teases an artistic space that Sophie can well and truly make her own. I remain ever more excited to see what she brings us from here, and will wait eagerly to see which direction she chooses as she continues to forge her own path.

Personal enjoyment score: 7 out of 10

Standout tracks: "Crystal Lake", "Drew's Interlude", "Till Death Do Us Part", "BLACKOUT"

EP REVIEW: Deadbeat Girl - What Will It Take?

Deadbeat Girl's debut EP What Will It Take? delivers five incisive, heart-rending tracks that will leave you longing for more.  

Reviewed by Alex "Ash" Han

 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Stream this project via Deadbeat Girl's Linktree page! Also available there are the links to some of the music videos associated with this project, so definitely check those out as well!

 

ALL OF US ON THE EIGHTH FLOOR come from humble beginnings, but every once in a blue moon, one MTech student surfaces from the miasmic depths of the streaming algorithm with a breakthrough song that exposes them to a wider audience for the first time—a moment which marks the beginning of a long upwards journey towards the distant prospect of fame. It's not often it happens, but it's usually quite the cause for celebration; our small community can oftentimes be quite diffuse and spread-out, but when someone does strike gold (i.e. streams), the news can fuel days' worth of excited eighth-floor chatter. Though Valentina Olson, perhaps better known under her artist moniker Deadbeat Girl, left MTech last year in favor of Gallatin, her steadily-growing online presence, visible through her constantly-expanding fanbases on Instagram and TikTok, as well as her 30,000 monthly listeners on Spotify at the time of this article's publication—not to mention her surprise appearance at a Brooklyn concert playing guitar for none other than girl in red last year—has granted her a certain reverence amongst the MTech community. Ever since I arrived in MTech myself, Valentina has carried a reputation built on her proclivity for catchy, hard-hitting songwriting rendered through a uniquely anguished and raw artistic presentation—a striking combination which immediately gave her music its own distinctive stamp. So many of us student musicians exist in a perpetual state of feeling around in the dark, trying to find out precisely who we are as artists, and yet Valentina felt like a fully-realized artist from the very first time I heard her music. In a few decisive strokes, she established who she was and what she was here to do with a remarkable artistic clarity that speaks to the strength of her creative vision—one that I hoped would get a chance to come even more into focus with the release of her debut EP.

 

Preceded by the release of its lead single, "Another Day", in September of last year, What Will It Take? represents a long-awaited debut project from a truly exciting titan of an artist. Clocking in at five tracks, spanning 16 minutes and 39 seconds, What Will It Take? promises nothing more than a momentary peek into Deadbeat Girl's universe, a mere taste of an artistic tapestry which myself, alongside the 30,000 other Spotify listeners bumping this EP, have been waiting a very long time to dive into. Heading in, I hoped that the project would provide enough new material that showcases Deadbeat Girl's trademark strengths to give itself the longevity it needs to hold us over until Valentina follows it up with something new. Nevertheless, in any case, What Will It Take? presents a rock-solid collection of songs that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Deadbeat Girl absolutely has what it takes to continue to succeed, both at Gallatin and undoubtedly far beyond.

 

"I started writing [What Will It Take?] while I was in high school living in South Florida in a very Catholic, conservative hometown. A lot of my songs are about the aches and pains of teenager-hood but also the aches and pains of a queer person growing up in an unaccepting environment." –Valentina Olson a.k.a. Deadbeat Girl

 

The EP's first track, "Take Me Home", was also released as a single in January of this year, and opens the project on a decidedly indie-adjacent pop punk note. Opening on charming layers of arpeggiated guitar picking and a loosely '80s new wave drum groove that reminds me a bit of "I Melt With You" by Modern English, Valentina sings what at first glance puts up a convincing masquerade as a straightforward love song, but upon closer inspection reveals suffocating, anxious undertones that point towards themes of toxicity and emotional dependency. Valentina's vocals here are detached, veiled to an extent behind a curtain of reverb and delay that lends her vocal performance a certain obscurity. Nonetheless, Valentina delivers the lines with her trademark brand of pathos—straddling the line between apathetic disaffectedness and overwhelming passion in a way only she can pull off. The refrain of "Don't let me go, don't let me go/I love you so, I love you so" is beautiful in its austerity, and is no less catchy as a result, especially when Valentina's vocals soar over those higher passages. Backed by an almost-cutesy blend of strummed acoustic campfire chords and subtle electric guitar-based counterpoint over handclaps and tambourine, the sonic palette evokes something timeless for me, at once retro and modern, which furthers the Modern English resemblances for me. The hook does suffer a little in the mixing department, though, as the long reverb on the lead vocal tends to disproportionately accentuate sibilant sounds and smear them out over several hundred milliseconds, which sometimes causes the lead vocal to disappear a little—not a huge deal, but it started to get a little distracting on repeated listens. Nonetheless, "Take Me Home" makes for an exciting opening to the EP that introduces the listener to the unique conveyance of the blend between anxiety and romance upon which Deadbeat Girl builds her craft.

 

"…all of these songs started in my childhood bedroom using my acoustic guitar and my mini bedroom studio to create demos for each song that I would later bring to my producer in South Florida, Ferny Coipel, to perfect and polish." –Valentina Olson a.k.a. Deadbeat Girl

 

The EP's second track and second single, "She Loves Me", slows things down a little, as we get an opening of strummed acoustic guitar chords that backs a simple lead acoustic melody out of the right channel. Valentina's vocals once again provide a uniquely gripping performance, as here, she sounds like she's on the verge of tears, choking out each line with a wavering scratchiness to her voice that lends the song a certain level of bedroom-pop vulnerability that only adds to the charm of the whole thing. The first chorus brings a vocal melody that soars into the upper fourth octave over lush, layered acoustic guitar chords and the unmistakable twang of a banjo in the back of the sound field, which I thought made for a really nice addition to the song's folksy singer-songwriter vibe. These melodies never feel like static loops, and continue to evolve and undulate over the course of the song, which is something I really appreciated; in general, the dynamic yet sparse soundscape of this song was really well-managed, and little touches like the single electric piano notes and occasional percussive hits recessed far into the back corners of the stereo field always felt natural and never out-of-place. Though the track approaches five minutes in length, those minutes fly by, and the emotional trajectory provided by "She Loves Me" feels wholly earned and satisfying.

"These Walls" is a new track that opens on ominous triplet finger-picked acoustic guitar passages soaked in a claustrophobic reverb. Soon, we begin the track with a soft four-on-the-floor kick that lends the track a sense of subtle, pulsing momentum. Masked behind a dense, yet relatively short reverb, Valentina sings about the feeling of being trapped and having to constantly chase after someone. Once again, her detached vocal performance makes for a perfect parallel with the track's narrative themes of emotional turmoil and struggle, but also with the soundscape's distinctly closed-in and suffocating vibe. The guitar-based soundscape becomes occasionally punctuated by sound effects: a burst of white noise here, an 808-style clap soaked in reverb there… the overall vibe resolves into something rather desolate and bleak as a result, conveying a sort of big, empty space despite the track's sense of claustrophobia. The instrumental is packed full of cool production & arrangement tricks; acoustic guitar notes suddenly reverse and swell into themselves, synth pads seamlessly interweave themselves through the soundscape before turning tail, duplicates and chops of Valentina's vocals echo distantly like tortured wails from just beyond the horizon. I really appreciate the attention to detail that went into this instrumental; it's clear that every second was meticulously crafted, and the resultant vibe is nothing short of incredible. Straddling a sort of in-between territory indebted to singer-songwriter acoustic pop that also absorbs loose influences from ambient techno and chillwave, "These Walls" is thoroughly haunting and hair-raising, and it's genuinely unlike anything I've ever heard before. Make no mistake: this is no typical alt-rock cut. It's something else entirely, and it may have just carved itself a niche amongst one of my favorite tracks I've ever covered on this blog. Seriously—go listen to this thing. It's absolutely nuts and Valentina, her producers, and engineers deserve all the credit for creating something this uniquely striking and incredible.

"As a person who has grown up listening to all sorts of alternative music in my house, I’ve drawn inspiration from The Neighborhood, Death Cab for Cutie, girl in red, Phoebe Bridgers, Paramore, Foo Fighters, and many more alternative, rock, indie, pop trailblazers in this debut EP." –Valentina Olson a.k.a. Deadbeat Girl

 

It's hard to believe that it's been almost two years since I heard "Another Day" for the first time, and yet, when that familiar opening guitar/piano riff washed over me once again, it hit with all the energy and bombast it had greeted me with during that Collegium listening session all those months ago. How much can I say about this track that hasn't already been said? It's incredible. The atmosphere of the track remains untouchable, providing an ethereal mix of reverb-heavy acoustic elements and in-your-face hard rock in a perfectly-executed intermarriage that hammers home the track's themes of perseverance in the face of suicidal ideation to a tee, meshing influences from iDKHOW to Paramore and back again seamlessly. Valentina's soaring vocals over the crashing walls of guitars and cymbals make for a moment of unparalleled catharsis, perhaps intensified by the song's newfound context as the fourth track on the EP. Indeed, the track's final chorus, where Valentina really lets the vocals rip, hits that much harder now that we've had three other tracks prior to this point in order to build the tension. In short, "Another Day" remains just as strong as the day I first heard it, and is made perhaps even stronger in context with the rest of the EP. I truly don't think I'll ever get bored of this song, and something tells me I can keep coming back to it for weeks or months or years and still be absolutely swept away by Valentina's decisive and evocative rendering of what it's like to struggle with thoughts of suicide. It's truly a track that captures something unforgettable for me, and I do fully believe that you're actively missing out if you haven't heard it yet.

 

"These songs are a time capsule of my personal life experiences for the past two years and it’s nothing but honest and genuine. I created this project for queer people and anyone who is going through emotional turmoil to find a home in… [What Will It Take?] is my most vulnerable yet, for sure." –Valentina Olson a.k.a. Deadbeat Girl

The last track on the EP, "More - Demo", feels a bit like a bonus track to me, perhaps due to its categorization as a demo, and its notably DIY vibe as compared to the rest of the project, which feels very much like a product of the studio. In contrast, "More" opens with a distant false-start take wherein Valentina stops to ask if we're recording before continuing on, over a healthy amount of white noise and tape hiss. The track definitely feels like a demo in terms of scale, consisting solely of a single acoustic guitar, Valentina's trademark plaintive vocals, and a healthy amount of reverb. The track remains small in scale until what I assume to be the chorus section enters for the first time (with only a minute and forty-three seconds of runtime, divining song structure can be hard sometimes!), when some incredible sweeping vocal layers enter, creating some huge, lush harmonies that made for a really nice listen. Soon, though, the vocals fade away, until we're left with just the acoustic guitar, and a soft exhale from Valentina that signals the end of this project. Even so, I can only hope that "More - Demo" was included on this EP to serve as a teaser for what will eventually be a fully-completed & released track, since it bears all the hallmarks of a Deadbeat Girl track to me—the austere yet atmospheric presentation, a catchy yet heart-rending chorus, a distinctly apocalyptic yet somehow hopeful mood that feels like we're watching Valentina bare her soul. It's a shame there's only a demo here, at present, since I feel like we're looking at the skeleton of a song that could easily stack up against "Take Me Home" or "Another Day" once it's been completed. The emotional magnetism and forceful passion that for me serves as a trademark stamp of Deadbeat Girl's music is absolutely present in "More - Demo", and I hope it's not long before Valentina gives us just that - more.

 

What Will It Take? brings a long list of positives to the table during its short sixteen minutes of runtime. First and foremost, it's a resoundingly successful showcase for the songwriting talents of one Valentina Olson, who puts on a tour-de-force performance over this EP's five tracks, capturing head-over-heels romantic capitulation and spiraling anxiety in equal measure. She maintains a very high standard of quality and resolutely sticks to it over the course of the entire EP: every lyric feels like nothing less than Valentina's best, yet also manages to feel like a true and authentic expression of her inner turmoil. I think that dichotomy ultimately forms the project's biggest strength—Valentina never seems like she's straying away from being true to herself, and the consistent incisiveness of her deep-cutting lyrics reveals the strength and precision of her conception of who she is as an artist. Deadbeat Girl is unapologetically flawed, unflinchingly vulnerable, down-to-earth and human through and through, and that contributes to a hugely relatable artist persona universal enough to resonate with 30,000 people at present and untold numbers to come.

 

This EP also feels thoroughly professional in its presentation. The production, mixing, and mastering all boast a level of polish that allows the songs at the core of this thing to really come through and shine. The use of reverb to create atmosphere on this EP was also really well-done, in my opinion; it's easy to overuse reverb in pursuit of creating a unique vibe, but here, it's used tastefully, with just enough of a sense of space to further the songs' suffocating & claustrophobic nature without resulting in significant loss of clarity. Aside from the occasional minor mixing hiccup here and there, most notably the reverb tending to gravitate towards & latch onto sibilant sounds on "Take Me Home" and "Another Day", this EP sounds excellent, and thoroughly subverts the often rough-around-the-edges nature that so many debut projects tend to (inadvertently) adopt.

 

Safe to say that What Will It Take? is a juggernaut of a debut project that sets the bar extremely high for Deadbeat Girl's artistry. I do, however, have one major criticism of the project—which admittedly has as much to do with the songs that are not on the EP as with the songs that are. In total, this EP contains five songs, of which one is a demo, and three of those songs have already been released as singles—namely, "Take Me Home", "She Loves Me", and "Another Day". In the case of such a short project, these songs already having been released became something of a double-edged sword; while I did find that the sheer catharsis of "Another Day" was somewhat elevated by the three tracks that came before, I also felt that my listening experience as to the opening of this EP was damaged somewhat by the fact that "Take Me Home" and "She Loves Me" were already tracks that I had plenty of time to become familiar with. It took until "These Walls" to really get a taste of something new, and that was a shame, because I had come into this project really hoping to get a greater & more comprehensive sense of who Deadbeat Girl is as an artist. In that sense, What Will It Take? simply delivers more of the strengths we know; those of us who knew Valentina as an incisive, passionate songwriter will come out of this project feeling more affirmed in that belief, but those of us who wanted to see what else she could deliver may either have to settle for "These Walls" and "More - Demo" for the foreseeable future, or continue to resolutely wait until the next Deadbeat Girl project. Having said that, I think the lack of content on this project is indicative of Valentina's commitment to a "quality over quantity" sort of ethos. For all I know, maintaining the very high standard of quality set by the five songs that we got may very well not have been possible at all had she felt compelled to finish and include a sixth track, or a seventh. Perhaps it's better this way, and in any case, I have no choice but to have faith that whatever Valentina brings us next will satisfy that desire and keep evolving her music in new and exciting directions.

 

So in the end, I suppose the final takeaway from What Will It Take? goes something like this: This EP showcases a tight collection of five tracks, all of which are universally strong, heavy hitters of alternative & indie rock that truly could not have been written by anyone else. If you're looking for a songwriter who can cut right to the heart of what it's like to struggle with balancing love for another person with your own inner demons, then there's very few who can fulfill that role quite like Deadbeat Girl. And, if, like me, you fell in love with "Another Day" during Collegium all those months ago, then you'll definitely find something to love about this new project. But even so, the question that invariably follows all debut projects—"so what next?"—burns especially intensely here, and the familiarity of Deadbeat Girl's unique, tortured brand of alt rock only partially scratches the itch for more of her music. What Will It Take? itself thus poses the question: if not one of my favorite debut projects I've ever come across, then what will it take to get enough Deadbeat Girl? Only Valentina can answer that question, and I will wait with bated breath until she does.

 

Personal enjoyment score: 8.5 out of 10

Standout tracks: "These Walls", "Another Day"… but seriously, just take 16 minutes and listen to the whole thing. You won't regret it.

ALBUM REVIEW: RED_E¥E - Through the Hole in the World...

RED_E¥E's album Through the Hole in the World... is a musical voyage showcasing his societal awareness, consciousness, and creative lo-fi hip hop production.

Reviewed by Reggie Katz, edited by Ash

 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: As always, before reading this review, be sure to support RED_E¥E by streaming the project! The links to Through the Hole in the World… on all platforms can be found via RED_E¥E's Linktree page.

IF SOMEONE ASKED YOU TO IMAGINE what it would sound like if the '90s hip hop crusaders collaborated with the current alternative R&B leading players, you would probably think of a sound like RED_E¥E's. Before I had sat down to listen to this album, I was introduced to the RED_E¥E sound in a Collegium listening session. I really liked his production style, mainly because it is totally unique to him. It's easy to fall into the trap of using the exact same MIDI instruments, VSTs, mics, et cetera, that you see your peers using, resulting in music that doesn't sonically differentiate you from any other artist; nonetheless, Rain manages to neatly carve out a distinctive sound profile only he can pull off. And even if Rain is mirroring production techniques from others, it's clear that he takes his time manipulating sounds and adding diverse textures so that there's no confusion about whose track it is when you put on a RED_E¥E song. It's very impressive how Rain has already found his artist sound at such a young age, especially because of how great it is.

The opening track on this album is a prime example of being able to tell a story without the use of lyrics. "Sometimes, I miss home." features a vast array of dark, ominous synths that create a sense of uneasiness very quickly. This track exists in the realm of experimental electronic music, so it's hard to predict where the song is going to go next, but it always seems to come together. If you listen on headphones or monitors, it sounds like the lead synth that comes in about two-thirds of the way into the track is pulsating forward and backward. I interpreted this as an artistic choice to represent the feeling of missing home. For me, the fluctuating synth symbolizes the push and pull between the times you're not really thinking about missing home, and the times when you miss home so deeply it's impossible to think about anything else. Having an instrumental track open an EP or album is a trend that I have been noticing more and more in modern music, especially within the Music Tech community. It doesn't always work, but it was a really beautiful choice here.

We are welcomed into "The World Goes On", the EP's second track, with the harsh sounds of rain and a plane flying above us, cleverly crafted and spatialized with the use of panning. Right from the start of track 2, Rain intensifies the uncomfortable feeling already imposed by the first track, using samples from sounds you hear every day walking to class through Washington Square Park over a violin part that clashes with the underlying chords. I'll have to find out where Rain got his drum samples for this production, because the drums just knock! One of the strongest features of this track is the boom bap beat reminiscent of '90s hip hop artists like Public Enemy and N.W.A. Overall, the lyricism in this track is very strong, but the hook fell flat in comparison to the verses. "And you never really get that shit that you want/That real real love, but the world goes on/But the world goes on" is a short and memorable hook, but I was hoping for something more lyrically substantial after hearing the verses. There are several examples of killer bars in this track. One that stood out was, "Another killed in these streets of rage/Another red dot on a ledger fully bloodstained". This is a really dope phrasing of a thought-provoking concept, and because of how well-executed this bar is, as well as the rest of the lines in the verses, the hook leaves you wanting something more. I still have to give Rain a lot of credit because this song does capture the essence of what a young adult might feel moving to a big city like New York, experiencing for the first time a stronger need to watch your back, more hostility and violence all around you. I ultimately respect how he communicated these feelings in such a vulnerable way on this industrious track that serves as the lyrical opener of the album.

One thing you can count on from RED_E¥E is a really cool and distinct production. The production on "Godzilla", the third track on the album, is produced like nothing I have ever heard before. It sounds like he took a beat that Biggie would use and put it under the piano stylings of Lauryn Hill. The way Rain combines the influence of many different artists creates a very unique sound. The overall lyricism in this track is well-done, but he did lose me towards the end of the song. If you've listened to the album before, the final bars of "Godzilla" makes more sense because you know what the track coming next is about, but closing a song with bars about "pigs" crossing the line and "giving 'em war" feels out of place since the rest of the track doesn't allude to those ideas at all. Besides that, I enjoyed it. It's clear that Rain was going through it when he was writing this. The experience of feeling like you "ain't shit" unless you isolate and focus on your art sounds dehumanizing, but he ends up finding contentment and inner peace in loneliness by remembering that we all die alone anyways, which is an even darker dehumanizing concept. This is a pretty somber track, but one that still has relatability to a certain audience. Rain expresses his ideas in a very poetic way, which I appreciate—and I definitely prefer this track to the Eminem song of the same name!

Track 4, "Sovereign Tyrannical Disease", has a name that is bound to catch your eye. I keep mentioning how the music from two or three decades ago has a large influence on RED_E¥E's sound, but this track sounds like it was pulled straight out of a '90s conscious hip hop playlist. Everything about this track is old school, from the beat to the lyrics to the delivery, and it's awesome. The track even starts us off with a sample from Malcolm X's 1962 speech on police brutality.

"Though it was released in early 2022, much of Through the Hole in the World... was a direct response to and reflection on the events of 2020—the death of George Floyd and the ensuing protests." –Rain Edward a.k.a. RED_E¥E

Although the ideas in this track are phrased well, they felt a little too stripped back for me. I would've liked to see some of the ideas in this track develop a little more, especially because the hook in this track has stronger lyricism than the verses which hasn't been the case in the predecessor tracks. What would've been really cool is if track 4 combined with track 5, "Fight Back!", to create one six-minute track, utilizing a beat switch-up. These tracks seem to go hand in hand, and because of how strong "Fight Back!" is, the previous track could have used its help. The flow in this track feels a little awkward to me, but the lyricism is so remarkable that I have to forgive it. If Rain was able to channel this level of conceptualizing ideas in each one of his tracks, he would be unstoppable. Bars like "run it back/run it back", "all black like a funeral", and "hunnid stack/hunnid more killed by the man in the uniform" have so many meanings behind them that you have to listen to this track a couple of times and really think about it, and even then, you still probably won't catch everything that's implied. Rain's writing ability really shines through here and it is fantastic.

RED_E¥E knows how to fill your headphones with some detailed production, especially on the penultimate track on this album, "Propaganda". He is a truly great producer and I don't want that to go unnoticed. His production sounds personal. Because of how unique the sound is to him, it sounds like he spent hours chipping away at filters, reverb throws, delays, and compressors to find just what he was looking for. This also gives the impression that he is great at composing the ideas in his head into a tangible art form. Although I enjoyed the production throughout, especially the tone bend on the lyrics "Don't listen to the mothafuckas on the news/They spread their lies, monetize by misleading you", the vocals were sitting a little too far back in the mix on this one. Lyrically and conceptually, this track hits hard on the toxic environment the news and media have created, sometimes hitting on it a little too much.

"For anyone listening to track 6, 'Propaganda', wondering what the sample at the end is, Google this: Sinclair's script for stations. You'll see." –Rain Edward a.k.a. RED_E¥E

The news anchors heard for the last minute of the song are sampled from "Sinclair's script for stations". Sinclair, the country's largest broadcast company, forced over 200 news media outlets to read the same script warning against "fake news" you might hear from other news stations. When I heard this part of the track, I was immediately reminded of the beat drop in Kendrick Lamar's "DNA". Lamar's track follows the same concept of using the words of news anchors as a statement about racial discrimination in music, specifically hip hop. The only difference is that the news sample used in "DNA" was from a news segment where they were specifically talking about Kendrick Lamar's music. Because of this, and the fact that there is no beat switch-up after Rain's news sample, I'm not sure I love the choice to include it on "Propaganda". People are bound to notice a good amount of similarity between the two, and it's a large feat to try and match the level of Lamar's Pulitzer Prize-winning album. While I didn't love this choice, it's still a choice that makes a statement. Although you can infer where RED_E¥E's head was while writing this track, it is written from a politically neutral standpoint, and I think that's a good thing. Every news outlet has done its fair share of putting certain news in the limelight and leaving other stories on the back burner in search of monetary gain. He also spits about how the death of someone will be shared on social media only if it's able to get a quick couple of likes and maybe some comments, and if you don't show your artificial support for someone, you'll be next on the list to get cancelled. What's quite ironic is that this track itself is partially a prime example of that idea. At the time that I am writing this review, the track has less than 1,000 streams on Spotify. Yet, somehow the trend of posting a blank black screen on "blackout Tuesday" has gained more attention than this album that brings these issues to the foreground more than mindlessly posting a blank screen. RED_E¥E is pointing out the elephant in the room that many are too afraid to speak about, and in that aspect, this track is truly excellent.

The album closes with the instrumental track, "Please, remember my words while I'm away." As a standalone track, I really like it. But in context with the rest of the album, I admittedly am not a huge fan. The opening of this album is also an instrumental, and because of how similar the closing instrumental sounds to the opener, it makes this track feel like a greater means to an end. I was hoping for something more ambitious that matched the energy of the previous tracks, but at the same time, it's still very enjoyable, so I don't have huge complaints about it. The eerie synths from the opening tracks get welcomed back into the mix, and they sound killer. The production is really well-done and consistent with the rest of the album.

Even though my thoughts on RED_E¥E's Through the Hole in the World… are mixed, the vast majority are positive. Performance-wise, the flow was pretty good, but there were several moments when it did feel a tad forced and awkward. There were a few artistic decisions that I didn't agree with, such as two instrumentals on a 7-track conscious hip hop record, the news anchor samples, the lyric choice at the end of "Godzilla", and generally speaking, the simplicity of the lyrics.

"While there's always a place for wordplay and double entendres, I felt this project needed to form a clear statement." –Rain Edward a.k.a. RED_E¥E

While I do partially agree with this quote from RED_E¥E, I feel like it would have benefited the album had he incorporated more wordplay and double entendres in the lyrics. I felt like the bluntness and laconicism of Rain's lyrics on this project were at odds with what I expect from a conscious hip hop record. It is sometimes said that if you're not writing original wordplay into your lyrics, then it's already been said before in a better way, and I did feel like a lot of the issues RED_E¥E brought up have already been rapped about in a more insightful manner. We have rap and hip hop pioneers like Biggie, Public Enemy, Lauryn Hill, and N.W.A., as well as recent artists like Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino, and J. Cole, paving the way for brilliantly-crafted songs on racism, police brutality, the news, and social media. It may seem unfair to compare these major label artists to RED_E¥E, but I am only doing so because I think Rain has an inner genius that needs to be brought out. Tracks like "Sovereign Tyrannical Disease" and "Propaganda" really showcase his abilities as a songwriter and artist. If he is able to channel that part of himself onto all of his tracks, I could see him making a big dent in the hip hop scene. Production-wise, this guy already can't be stopped. Rain is a great producer, point blank. The consistency of the sound of this project while still managing to make each track distinct in its own way is truly remarkable. The soundscape of this album is among the most distinct I've heard from the Music Tech community so far, and I thought it was the highlight of the album overall. The use of sampling, especially when it came to strings and drums, was executed at a near-professional level. I appreciate the way his production pays homage to the rappers who were the original pioneers of this style of thought-provoking hip hop music. Interestingly enough, RED_E¥E's tone of voice reminds me of JID; the contemporary tone of voice mixed with old-school production will really help solidify RED_E¥E as a respected artist. I'm looking forward to hearing what's next from Rain. I heard firsthand from him that he has an album coming out in July that will "blow this one out of the water", so make sure you stay on the lookout for that!

 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Rain has also asked me to let you all know that he has a new song coming out on Valentine's Day, for all you romantics out there! Stay tuned for that as well!

Personal enjoyment rating: 7.5 out of 10

Standout tracks: "Sovereign Tyrannical Disease" and "Propaganda"

EP REVIEW: Campbell Moon - Mercury

Campbell Moon's Mercury is a thoroughly eclectic project that showcases excellent songwriting and captivating vulnerability. 

Reviewed by Ash

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Before reading this review, please take 20 minutes to go stream the project! The links to Mercury on all platforms can be found via Campbell Moon's website, where you can also purchase merch and keep an eye out for his next gig!

I'M JUST GONNA come out and say it now: a debut project has absolutely no right to be this good. Mercury, a seven-track, 19-minute EP which dropped last December, marks the world's first introduction to Campbell Moon, a singer-songwriter and producer within the MTech program. Mercury feels very much like both an introduction to the musical universe of Campbell Moon as well as a prelude to bigger and larger-scale musical endeavors in the future. Campbell combines a vast array of influences that includes everything from alternative singer-songwriters like Lorde to indie pop acts like The Front Bottoms all the way to rap-adjacent R&B in the vein of Joji and James Blake, showcasing eclecticism through and through in his production, songwriting, and performances. The result is an innately entertaining experience that never gives you the same song twice, making for an impressive display of musicianship and songwriting to create one of my favorite projects I've reviewed on this blog.

The EP opens with "Poltergeist", an indie pop endeavor combining a thick synth bass and reverb-heavy finger snaps with a downtempo, subtly swung groove and distorted guitars pushed to the back of the mix, which makes the song feel like an interesting stylistic crossover between Billie Eilish and The Black Keys. Campbell's vocal performance starts out breathy & soft, boasting a timbre that falls somewhere between Sam Smith and Dan Reynolds; his voice is occasionally augmented by really tastefully-arranged background vocals that create some very nice layering. Near the midpoint of the track, we finally hit the song's title; Campbell declares "Certain feelings don't go away, they just multiply/They stay in your head and they scare you to death/Like a poltergeist" as the synth bass comes crashing in and utterly swallows his voice in a moment that I thought was really cool. We get a ripping guitar solo soaked in shoegaze distortion and filled with some really nice, economical melody choices. In the track's outro, Campbell stretches and manipulates his voice to create all sorts of interesting vocal inflections, repeating "I know what you want" in an increasingly unhinged and off-kilter manner as his vocals get progressively more and more distorted and mangled. "Poltergeist" certainly made for a really striking opening to the album that successfully solidifies the persona of Campbell Moon as an earnest, if slightly unhinged, lover with an introspective and brutally honest slant.

The following "thru the street", a collaboration with Brendan Shaw, is a significantly lighter and more uptempo endeavor, anchored in an indie disco drum pattern and watery, chorused guitar lines. I really love the bass tone on this track; it has just the right amount of grit to cut through everything without sacrificing the clean tone associated with this kind of funky brand of indie pop. The guitars also sound great here, and add just the right amount of funk without being overly showy or distracting. Campbell's vocals are played a little straighter here; he sounds more put-together and in control, which I thought worked well with this track's cleaner presentation. The chorus brings multiple layers of Campbell, some panned left and some right, with subtle melodic variations between them, which I thought was a really cool touch. The short guitar solo that breaks up the last two choruses was also really nice; Campbell has a real knack for crafting guitar solos that drive the song forward without upstaging the rest of the production. The track closes itself out with a section that starts to feel a bit like an in-studio instrumental jam, as Campbell scats melodies from earlier in the song as the various instrumental elements start to drop out around him; I really love the decision to end the track like this, since I feel like it worked perfectly with this track's loose feel and organic vibe. "thru the street" made for an excellent resident pop song on this EP, and I wouldn't be surprised to hear this on the radio one day.

"FAST" opens with woozy, Don Toliver-like synth passages and psychedelic, doubled R&B vocals. Soon, the track settles into a pseudo-trap groove anchored by flickering, polyrhythmic hi-hats and a hefty 808 bass. Campbell's vocals really remind me of Frank Ocean & Joji over this type of instrumental; he captures a similar type of inherent vulnerability in his subdued, low-key vocal performance. The flows and melody of the first verse are really nice, and the interplay between the lead and backing vocals is very nicely done. I'm not sure I love the chorus of this first half; I feel like it could have hit a little harder with some more melodic variation to give the melody some more movement and emotional pull, and I found myself really wishing for a soaring R&B chorus where Campbell really lets the vocals rip. Either way, the verse is still great. After the second chorus, we enter a total vibe switch, with rapid synth arpeggios anchoring a new instrumental that leans even further into the aesthetic of trap, with a bouncy 808 bass and psychedelic background ear candy to boot. Campbell brings a fiery last verse in which he discusses feeling trapped by his personality & mental state and being forced to become someone he hates; the heavyweight emotional topics on display here are paralleled really well by Campbell's increasingly tortured vocal performance. This is absolutely a standout track on the album for me and I'm very impressed by how well Campbell negotiates the different sounds he wants to explore, as he manages a seamless fit right into the aesthetic of trap and R&B in a way that feels wholly natural.

"Crush" marks a bit of a come-down from the previous track's burst of emotion, opening with a relaxed swung guitar line backed with subtle slide guitar that somewhat humorously reminds me of some of the songs on the Spongebob Squarepants soundtrack. Laid-back, loose acoustic drums imbue this track with a chill groove; the track feels like it's in no hurry to get anywhere. The beach-like, sunny aesthetic of this track is certainly very nice and makes for a welcome switch-up from the darker tracks that preceded it. Campbell's first verse once again brings tastefully doubled lead vocals, as feminine backing vocals occasionally soar in and out for some extra flavor. The acoustic guitar solo that hits after the chorus is also really nice, as the background guitars become enveloped in heavy reverb to let the lead guitar sit front and center; the guitar solo hits some excellent melodies and triplet passages that sound great together. The track's outro is kinda hilarious, as one of the guitar lines gets processed through increasingly heavy frequency modulation until it sounds excessively warbly and wobbly—a decision that I thought worked quite well with this track's more whimsical spirit and vibe.

"103 Degrees" is a short track, clocking in at just over a minute in length. That said, it wastes no time getting itself established, with jazzy electric piano chords finding a home over sparse drums and a funky bassline to once again return to R&B territory. Campbell sings striking lines ("Only thing between us is friction/Your body has a hold of me like an addiction") over layered, textured backing vocals that add excellent bits of substance to this otherwise very minimal instrumental. I respect this track as a short interlude, but damn it if I don't really wish it was longer! The foundation is so good and Campbell fits over this type of instrumental so well that I wished that we could have heard him keep going. Either way, I hope he explores this sound some more soon!

The following "Your Name" opens with an economical guitar line and loosely pop punk eighth-note power chords. Campbell sings about heartbreak as he asks a former lover to walk out of his life; his performance here is perhaps more unhinged than it's been anywhere else on the record, as he manipulates his voice to make it dip and soar and break in a highly effective display of emotion. The track remains fairly minimal and low-key until the first chorus comes crashing in with a display of pop punk at its finest; thick power chords and a simple, punchy drum groove underscore a crazed chorus melody that embraces indie punk spirit. The second verse marks a bit of a come-down, as we return to relatively minimalist territory. There's a really nice break before the second chorus that showcases some exquisite vocal harmony work from Campbell for one of my favorite moments on the record as a subtle solo string line enters in the background. We get one more pounding, headbanging chorus from here on, which itself eventually gives way to a short section in which a full string section merges with the power chords for a decidedly sweeping and cinematic outro. I love this track and I thought the emotional dichotomy between the minimalist and maximalist sections was managed really well, creating a track that feels like a journey from start to finish.

"Sometimes", the final track on the record, returns us to indie pop/indie folk territory; this instrumental is rather austere in its presentation, slowly introducing first strummed acoustic guitar, then bass, and then drums in a methodical, unhurried way. The buildup to the first chorus is excellent, as Campbell's harmony work once again steals the spotlight; the following guitar solo is also aces, as per usual. Unfortunately, this last chorus is all we get, as we're gifted a short outro verse and a spoken word outro to close out the album. This track could have been longer, but nonetheless, I feel like it worked really well as a closer to the album. It doesn't linger, but it does offer a nice closing to the EP's narrative themes of heartbreak and the effects it can have on one's self-esteem and self-confidence. Through his exploration of his own stagnating mental state, Campbell leaves us with a solidly meditative closing message to ruminate over as we exit the universe of Mercury.

Pictured above: A snapshot from the release party for Mercury last December.

In my time reviewing music for this blog, it's a rare thing for me to encounter an EP that manages to explore so much musical territory. Campbell Moon navigated his way through a wide variety of sounds on this track, ranging from pop punk to indie rock to trap-adjacent R&B; his journey on this record feels totally natural where other attempts at doing this kind of stylistic mismatch might have felt significantly more disjointed. The narrative & themes of this record also come through really strongly, as Campbell's earnest exploration of heartbreak and his sense of self go over really well. I feel like many artists would have needed the runtime of a full studio album to explore these themes in-depth, but Campbell manages it in just nineteen minutes.

Campbell's technical prowess is also on display here; his guitar work, vocal harmonies, and songwriting are all consistently great on this record, paralleled by excellent mixing and mastering work to boot. As a producer, Campbell manages the introduction of new elements really well; his songs never feel overproduced, and often manage to be strikingly sparse without ever feeling empty. When Campbell does go big, it always feels like a climactic moment, which I think speaks to his skill as a songwriter and arranger. The emotional throughline of this record feels remarkably cohesive and natural. Anytime my only complaint with a project is that I wish it was longer, you know it's a good one! Mercury was a really strong project that feels like a prelude for a full studio album that will do everything that this project did, but with more tracks and even more freedom to explore every corner of Campbell's eclectic musicianship. I'll wait eagerly for that next project, and I'll be sure to give it a listen when it does drop!

Personal enjoyment score: 9 out of 10

Standout tracks: "Poltergeist", "thru the street", "FAST", "Your Name"

ALBUM REVIEW: Not From England - Guest House

Not From England’s Guest House is a light-hearted collection of intentful songwriting and elaborate indie-rock production.

Reviewed by Reggie Katz, edited by Ash

 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Before reading this review, please support Not From England by streaming the album! The links to the album on all streaming services can be found here. Additionally, please check out Not From England's Linktree page, which contains links to their music videos and some prior reviews of their music!

I WAS INTRODUCED to this LP when Not From England requested that we review it, upon which I fell in love with the sound of the project. I listened to a few of their tracks at first to get a feel of their sound, and I ended up being very intrigued by the sound of the lead vocals (which can’t help but put a smile on your face), and the consistency of the high level production throughout. Their album Guest House is a great example of the California indie-rock sound. It is also a nice reminder of how satisfying it can feel to listen through a whole album in a genre such as this one. Guest House left me feeling eager for more music from Not From England.

"Instigator", the first track on the album, gives a solid preview of the rest of the album’s sound. The kick drum come in at first and then we hear a distorted electric guitar. While not necessarily a musical sound, the unpredictable distorted guitar noises add a lot of texture, which starts to get the listener hooked. The producer of this album is not shy about showcasing their talents right away. The vocal layering, panning, and different EQ’s for the lead vocals and background “oohs” are expertly crafted. Overall, I enjoyed this track. My only criticism would be that the kick drum sits a little too far back in the mix, comparatively to the second track on the album. But overall, this was a great way to introduce us to the rest of the album.

"Something To Do" is the fun and catchy second track. The stronger kick drum and overall sense of rhythm in this track helped provide a sense of stability in the track since most of the other elements are a bit more free-sounding. I found myself jamming out to this track as well. My main criticism this track is the diction of the words. It was hard for me to understand a lot of what the singer was saying, and I was really let down by that since I was reading along with the lyrics of each song. This song is nicely written, so it would’ve been nice to appreciate the lyricism of this track a little more. Other than that, all my feelings towards this track are positive. A very easy song to listen to!

The third track, "Rest Of It", is a nice juxtaposition to its predecessor track. The guitar pedalboard sounds like it was kept pretty bare-bones. The more stripped-down tracks on the album make for consistently beautiful moments that showcase Not From England’s excellent storytelling abilities. This track talks about the trouble of being trapped inside your own head and being unable to do things that you once could do Although the instrumentation in this track is rather stripped down, for me this symbolizes what it feels like to lose your mind. My only criticism of this track is the bridge. It sounded like there was supposed to be a bridge, but it wasn’t different enough from the rest of the song to be a true bridge in my opinion. Regardless of that, this is one of my favorite tracks off of the album, and made for a perfect segue into the title track.


Track four, "Guest House", is an outstanding track. I have no complaints about this track at all. The production and relationship between the bass and the drums creates a very cool push-pool that I could almost feel physically. The idea of this song was interesting as well. It tells the story of how you can lose a best friend if they stop putting in effort into the friendship. This track really resonated with me since I've been in situations that felt like one-sided friendships. The lyricism in this song was very well done and made the song especially relatable. This is one of my favorites off of the album as well.

Track five, "Red Light", keeps the energy of the album going, starting off with a nice groove. This track had some atypical production which I admire since it added a lot of personality to the song. For example, about halfway through the track, some unplugged electric guitars came in. Although the production was very creative, I personally was not a fan of this one. I was unable to understand most of the lyrics, and for me, connecting with the lyrics of a song is what makes a song special. But overall, this track is still well executed, and the production remains very unique.

"Good Morning Thieves", the eye-catching title of the sixth track of the album, is also more stripped down compared to the majority of the music we’ve been hearing. I liked the use of panning and reverb throws in this production, making us  like we’re in the studio with them. This was another song about being tired of being stuck in your head. It was a pretty good song and overall a nice track that further explores the album’s themes of feeling trapped.

The seventh track, "Nylon Pipes", shows off angelic pipes and incredible songwriting ability. This song was totally acoustic, and absolutely beautiful. Placing this track in the seventh spot was a great decision in terms of pacing, and made for a perfect break from the more uptempo & heavily produced indie rock songs that led us to this point. I’m always a sucker for acoustic, balled-esque productions since that is the kind of music I grew up listening to, so naturally, I gravitated to this track quite heavily. The little imperfections in the guitar and vocals really added to the authentic feel of the performances as well. I got chills when the backing vocals came in. "Nylon Pipes" is my favorite track off of the album.

Pictured above: A snapshot of the recording process for Guest House.

"Don’t Get Me Wrong", the eighth track on the album, starts off in a very “Mr. Brightside” kind of way: guitar panned hard left, drums panned hard right, and vocals right down the center. We’re back to more of an indie-rock feel again, but the song is nothing too heavy at the beginning. It eases us back into the vibe of the rest of the album will be. The song talks about wanting to die but being too scared to act upon those feelings. I enjoyed this track and I loved the use of the slidey vocals.

"Beach Night" is the experimental ninth track on the album. Not From England once again uses distorted guitar sounds solely for sonic elements, rather than musical elements, and for the most part, it works quite well, but I didn’t love this track for a couple of reasons. The repeating four chord pattern worked, except for the third chord in the pattern. It sounded a little too dissonant for an average listener to enjoy. I also felt like some of the guitar sounds got a little too experimental to fit in the context of the album. But as a standalone track, it is nice to listen to if you are into experimental-sounding guitar. Think of Frank Ocean’s guitar heavy tracks off of Blonde. Overall, I thought it was pretty neat to hear Not From England experiment with sounds and chord progressions that we had not heard before. So even though it wasn’t one of my favorite tracks, I ultimately respect their decision to include it.

"Bluebird" is the tenth track on the album. Some things that stood out to me in this track are the drums and groove. The drummer does a really nice job of showing off their skills while still keeping a really nice groove. I also enjoyed the little cameo at the end of one of the band members' voices. The haunting eleventh track on this album is titled "Jura". The opening lyric “I’m starting to lose my mind” just grabs you; After all of the tension and questioning in the previous tracks, they finally say it out loud, which made for a really powerful moment. It almost sounds like there is a sense of panic in this production, adding to the overall sense of going crazy. It was a nice track to add to the falling action of the album.

The final track on the album, "In Town", is an appropriate track to end the album on. I got a very warm feeling from this final song. The instrumentation almost sounds like something off an Alabama Shakes record. The track provides a sense of completeness, especially because of the repeated lyric, “another day is nothing changed.” This track was pretty enjoyable for me.

Pictured above: Not From England, performing live at the Observatory Main Stage in Orange County, California.

My overall thoughts on Guest House by Not From England are somewhat mixed but mostly positive. While I thought the songwriting was pretty well done, the majority of the tracks ended up sounding very similar as you listened through the album. It is clear by the capabilities of the musicians and producer that they are all very skilled. I hope that on their future releases, they apply their skills some more by adding some more differentiation in each of their tracks. I also was not a huge fan of not being able to understand the lyrics of the song. I understand that part of the indie-rock style is this sort of unclear and distorted vocal, but I felt like sometimes it was overdone, which sometimes took away from my enjoyment of the songs.

On the flipside, though, it’s clear that Not From England has found their sound and are sticking to it. Think of if The Rare Occasions and the Arctic Monkeys had a baby. While songs sounded similar on the album, it may very well be because this band has already found their sound and wanted to adhere to it, and I respect that. Nonetheless, Not From England’s acoustic endeavors on this album were all fantastic; their musical abilities in an acoustic context are definitely not to be underestimated! Another stand out feature of this album is the production, mixing, and mastering of this album. I have pretty much no complaints about the production quality, mixing, or mastering. I think this album's production elements could compete with any mainstream track. This album was a fun listen overall and I look forward to listening to more work from Not From England!

Personal Enjoyment Score: 7 out of 10

Standout Tracks: “Rest Of It,” “Guest House,” “Nylon Pipes,” “In Town”