Do you know how many times I’ve
tried to listen to this album? A lot.
But until now I didn’t actually ever start.
- Forty Screams
Sounds like Son Lux so far! I
love shimmering, and echoes, and falsettos. And YEAH THAT’S SOME SERIOUS BASS.
I probably have the volume up too loud but who needs hearing later in life
anyway? No one has anything all that different to say so I can probably fake it
when I’m 80 and enjoy Son Lux super loud right now. I appreciate that this song
isn’t rushing to get anywhere, just like 80-year-old me. I don’t know if I love
the “Tommy” vibe halfway through but I’ll give it a chance.
“Young ghost in an old body”. Man…this is really coming together and
I didn’t even plan it.
- Dream State
I was just thinking about the one
Radiohead album I actually like the other day (Kid A) and how much I
appreciated the blaring horns at the start of one song. This has that too. Not
as distinctive as the Radiohead version but it ropes me in with sharp cacophony
and then just starts hammering away. Relentless. The AAAAOOOOOHHHH chorus in
the background sounds like something that would be in a big summer pop hit, but
it works. Because it’s evocative of PARTY TIME EVERYTHING IS GOOD but subverted
by the overlaying lyrics of “Awake, awake
/ This is a dream state/ Though we were wide awake/ This is a dream state”.
And pretty much all the other lyrics too. I want to type them all out but I won’t.
OK, one more:
How do we feel?
How do we feel in that photograph
And how do we feel it again?
So good.
- Labor
I wanted shimmer and I got
shimmer. 90 seconds of shimmer is just about my limit though. I’m not loving this
song so far. After the endless shimmer there’s a stripped down lounge act thing
happening and it doesn’t work. Am I supposed to envision this dude laying
across a grand piano while wearing a red sequin gown. I don’t understand the
ending of the song either. It’s dumb.
- The Fool You Need
Not the fool you deserve? POW POW
POW this song comes in to kick the crap out of my eardrums. Yeah, I probably
have it way too loud. Oh well, this song is great so far. Although I’m still
hoping for at least one really catchy number before we get too far into the
album. This song is like all production tricks in a giant shiny ball but that’s
OK as long as I can sing along with at least one of the songs before the album
is over. “I am not letting go no matter what you do” is pretty fun at least. I
can gargle water while I sing it and sound just like the album version. A
couple minutes in there are giant mosquitoes buzzing in my ear but they buzz to
the beat and pulse and pulse and I THINK I AM HYPNOTIZED BY MOSQUITOES.
- Slowly
Whoa – was that it? Short song.
Oh…haha…FOOLED YA IT’S JUST GETTING STARTED. This song is soulful. Through a
ton of filters and distortion but still soulful. STOPPED AGAIN! FOOLED YA
AGAIN! I really appreciate how “sharp” the sounds are on Son Lux albums. So
many of the sounds have clear edges and nothing ever mushes together. I don’t
care about this actual song so much yet but the sounds are so darn crisp. I do
feel a little worn out at the end of each song, but good exhausted like if I
actually exercised or something. I don’t exercise though so I guess I should
listen to more Son Lux.
- All Directions
Uh oh…another soulful ditty. I
hate when two songs in a row are too similar. This has robot strings and
electronic bouncy balls so I think I like this one better. It’s also not trying
to trick me by stopping every so often. KIDDING! WE’RE STOPPING NOW! Dammit. I
was excited for it to end with another ball drop but now there’s another song
starting inside my song. Oh – it’s not even half over. You know, I’m not so mad
after another minute of new song inside song – I think I like the second song better.
It has real strings and the bouncy balls are more rubbery. And it has a chorus
of voices that builds and builds and WOW
I’m really tired after that one.
Great workout, me.
- Aquatic
There’s lots of clicking and
rustling sounds in the background on this album and this song has the most.
Hey, he said “rustle in the dark”! Great observation, me. Even better than the
workout aspect of Son Lux albums is the fact that they let you congratulate
yourself so much. This is starting off great; really “classic Lux” with a
little Antlers.
You won't find me where I fall
We may all begin aquatic
But we leave through the fire for our homes
This song is making me cry. It’s beautiful.
- Surrounded
No rest after Aquatic – drum drum
crazy drum time! “You're losing yourself
/ Slowly disappearing / Caught in your skin, surrounded” I’m going to need
such a long nap after finishing this album. Even though the drumming is off the
hook crazy yo there’s this glossy wave of sound slowly pulsing behind it that
binds it all together. I’m super loving this album. I keep visualizing outer
space and if I’m being honest with you live review I’m more than a little bit
emotional. I think Son Lux did that to me.
- Young
OK, this was actually a short
song. No robot trickery this time. By the time I started to write down my
thoughts it was already over.
- Resurrection
The filtered vocals sound like “Somewhere
Over The Rainbow”. I wonder if that’s intentional. They also sound a little
aquatic but that’s kind of a Son Lux thing overall. There’s a dissonant fuzzy organ
loop pushing the vocals out of the way and vice versa and here we go – building
and building and BOOM.
Can we be this ugly and still have a beautiful life
Be a beautiful wife?
'Cause I'm a believer but I'm not a fool
The blend of religious allusion
and personal reflection is totally distracting me from the fact that this is
the kind of song I usually hate because it’s so disjointed. But it works. And
then at 3:25 it hits a new level and sounds like a musical about the bible
where everyone is crying because each and every character just lost a loved
one. Including me. Great job, Son Lux. You made me feel human emotion.
Final Rating:
Nine sparkles out of 10. No,
maybe 10 sparkles. A lot of sparkles. Can I change my scale to be out of 100
shimmering space rainbows? 97 out of 100 shimmering space rainbows. Three
demerits for putting two songs with the same tempo back to back. I’m going to
go cry myself to sleep now.
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