Sylvia – Recompose
Musically, very little is actually new except for experimental hip-hop, AI gibberish, and folks making music in their garage using old vacuum cleaners and rusty pipes. But is that a problem, really? The things worth singing about aren’t new, either. Love hurts as it always has done; wars terrify people, and love gives the impression that it could save it all.
The first thing you might notice about Sylvia’s new single is that the band’s logo is written in the font used by old Norwegian black metal bands and that the artwork seems to hint at a famous hardcore-punk album cover. The next thing you’ll inevitably notice is that “Recompose” features no shouting or breakneck grooves. It’s kind of gentle and rather lost.
Sylvia’s “Recompose” is a testament to the power of subtlety in a world where everything getting attention starts with a boom and ends with a bang. Nah, musically, this recalls the shoegaze bands of the 1980s, and emotionally, it shares something with the blues or folk singers and, in fact, with anyone who has had their heart broken and had to put it back together again. Sylvia are making things happen by putting old pieces back together, and I’m not sure any new pieces are required for this.
Kalligary – Singles
Everyone’s out looking for the truth. Most of us don’t realize it. But it’s obvious. Why would we put ourselves in so much trouble? All those bills are for attending yoga retreats, church visits, or trips to Amsterdam. Ideally, either of those is going to have the same result. It’s going to reveal something really important about ourselves. About life. And, once we have that info, the sky’s the limit.
But most seekers will agree that you can’t meet the truth on a diet of health food and dark coffee. You can’t wear your best white shirt to the meeting either. That’s, at least, what we’ve been told. The poets, the visionaries, the great artists weren’t completely straight. They distorted themselves and their vision of the world. Some swear that they saw something… Some of us believe ‘em.
Kalligary’s “Singles” is music meant to trick the senses without offending pop fans who might be happening to be strolling by. The exterior of “Singles” is shiny indie-rock. The interior, however, is made up of extravagant ideas, music, and otherwise. There’s an undercurrent of experimental prog-rock here. The artwork, an ancient picture of Egyptian pyramids, suggests the same thing. Kalligary’s musicians are searching, and simply visiting the Egyptian exhibits in Berlin won’t do.
