Caterina Barbieri
Spirit Exit


4.5
superb

Review

by Brendan Schroer STAFF
July 20th, 2022 | 29 replies


Release Date: 2022 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Finding a voice in the midst of the storm

Being lost at sea would be one hell of a terrifying prospect. Imagine being cut off from any communication with the outside world, living in constant fear that a storm will rip through your neck of the woods at any time. Your only source of food is the surrounding wildlife and vegetation; soon enough, out of complete boredom and delirium, you’ll wind up befriending a volleyball and naming it Wilson. As the typhoon approaches, your voice - loud as it may be - will slowly disappear. Shout all you can, but it won’t make a difference. Even the loudest screams will be swallowed up by this fierce beast of mother nature’s conception.

While I highly doubt it was Caterina Barbieri’s intention to create a similar vibe in her music, that’s exactly what listening to Spirit Exit feels like to me. The album gives off a distinct aura of loss and despair, as each reverberating synth brings forth pangs of grief and - most importantly - uncertainty. However, the most important part of opener “At Your Gamut” happens right at the end of the track: faint voices can be heard coloring the background, as robotic harmonies are consistently overtaken by the percussive keyboard stabs. Cut to the next track and these vocals now have much more prominence - but if you thought the established sense of melancholy would fade, think again. If anything, “Transfixed” is an even more desolate and slow-paced tune, as the pitch-shifted singing and minimalist keyboards help craft a beautifully dark soundscape. As for the vocals themselves, imagine if you took Imogen Heap’s famous “Hide and Seek” vocoder effects and made those the basis of an entire record. And believe me, Barbieri knows how to put this style to good use: the way she layers her voice creates the illusion of an otherworldly choir, almost as if you’re listening to a more futuristic version of an Enya record.

To get back to my original point, the interaction between the vocals and the uncanny electronic landscapes is a massive part of what makes this project so special. Spirit Exit revels in its - and by extension, Barbieri’s - ability to make the singer-songwriter’s vocals mingle with the synths in a variety of interesting ways. Perhaps my favorite example of this comes in the form of the haunting ballad “Broken Melody”; the main instrumentation here is a wistful-sounding piano, as it lets out some of the most mournful melodies you can imagine. The singing, meanwhile, sounds more desperate and anguished than ever, with Barbieri uttering soft croons that really lend credence to the whole “marooned” narrative I fashioned earlier. What astounds me so much about Spirit Exit, however, is that such a wholly electronic record can sound so human. Much like Madonna’s landmark Ray of Light or Bjork’s 90s masterpieces, this album is able to wring out some of the most powerful emotions through some of the most synthetic instrumental work. And somehow, I feel as though using more natural vocals would actually take away from how compelling the experience is.

On that note, things come to a head with the late-album highlight “Terminal Clock”. With this song, the typhoon has finally arrived, and the jarringly loud synths act as warning shots from the earth itself. It’s a fitting outcome for a record that explores such intense emotional territory, and really ties the experience up nicely. With Spirit Exit Barbieri has created a near-perfect depiction of being stranded with no one around to save you. Even more strikingly, the record serves to illustrate anxiety and despair on a level that I haven’t heard in electronic music since Kid A. Well, I suppose it’s time to say hi to Wilson and get ready for the upcoming storm… I don’t want to get swept away with the tide. But surely this will make for a beautiful soundtrack to go along with the tempest--.



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user ratings (29)
3.7
great


Comments:Add a Comment 
Koris
Staff Reviewer
July 20th 2022


21957 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Man, I don't even know how long it's been since I've reviewed a full-on electronica record. In any case, this album is fucking amazing!

TheSpirit
Emeritus
July 20th 2022


30304 Comments


Nice I’m going to check this now

Koris
Staff Reviewer
July 20th 2022


21957 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

https://caterinabarbieri.bandcamp.com/album/spirit-exit



Here's the link, enjoy :]

Demon of the Fall
July 20th 2022


35524 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

I did not expect those genre tags



nice, sounds interesting!

MarsKid
Emeritus
July 20th 2022


21035 Comments


Ambient tag makes me skeptical but you certainly describe it in a very compelling way.

pizzamachine
July 20th 2022


27668 Comments


You had me at Enya

Kompys2000
July 20th 2022


9483 Comments


Really glad this got a review on sput, I find Barbieri's stuff can be a little overcalculated for my tastes (likely a function of how academic her background is) but she undeniably knows her shit when it comes to synths and some of the stuff here is really beautiful

Koris
Staff Reviewer
July 20th 2022


21957 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Cheers everyone



I'm just surprised that this is the first review she's ever gotten on here, lol

Hyperion1001
Emeritus
July 21st 2022


27095 Comments


great artist, love all her stuff so far. fantas is exceptional.

gotta check this. snippets sounded like she took some cues from kaitlyn aurelia smith with the vocal additions.

great review.

Dewinged
Staff Reviewer
July 21st 2022


32179 Comments


Great rev man, I obviously dig the vocal tracks a lot ;D

Koris
Staff Reviewer
July 21st 2022


21957 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Thanks guys, I appreciate it. I'm really happy at how this review turned out... once I figured out the whole "stranded" angle I was gonna approach it from, everything else fell into place :] Maybe I should cover more electronic music in the future, I don't think that niche is being filled much by the current staff/contrib roster - especially in the time since Deviant left

tinathefatlard
July 21st 2022


2063 Comments


That last name looked familiar and based on the genre tag, I thought she might have been related to the dude from Porcupine Tree. Nope, nonetheless I will check this out.

Demon of the Fall
July 21st 2022


35524 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

yeah Koris as far as I'm aware a lot of knowledgeable users are willing to (sometimes) pick up the slack, but obviously there are limits to what they can do. There doesn't appear to be a true specialist amongst the Staff roster, just those that dabble? Idk.



What I'm trying to say is it would be very much appreciated, because a lot of stuff gets missed

Pho3nix
July 21st 2022


1681 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

The nautical theme seems interesting in this ^^ thanks for the rev! have not heard of her before.

Koris
Staff Reviewer
July 21st 2022


21957 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

@tina: It's funny that you say that, because I was thinking of putting a disclaimer on my first comment for that very reason, lol



@Demon: Yeah, I think I'm going to do that for a while. Despite doing the Wormrot review recently, I'm gonna continue avoiding metal reviews for a bit... I'm just never satisfied with those writeups, and plus we have so many contrib/staff who fill that niche already - Gnocchi, Orb, Garas, NoTrap, etc. Also, despite still listening to metal, my heart just isn't in writing about it anymore



@Pho3nix: Thank you! Hopefully she can gain more prominence on the site from here on out; her music is excellent



Demon of the Fall
July 21st 2022


35524 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Nice thoughts, metal is well covered and branching out into different genres will do your talents the world of good.



if you were to guess what genre my 2 reviews were 'stationed in' I'd imagine it would be a challenging 'get' lol - I should definitely review a few more things. Maybe I'm just not passionate enough about writing, but I do enjoy seeing things I like have a place for discussion, so there's that.

Sunnyvale
Staff Reviewer
July 21st 2022


6175 Comments

Album Rating: 3.8

Listening to this now, really nice so far!



Excellent review as well.

Koris
Staff Reviewer
July 21st 2022


21957 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

@Demon: Yeah, and to be fair, I've barely reviewed any metal this year as it is... it's been really fun going outside my normal boundaries and broadening my horizons. And I'd definitely like to see you review more, that Oxbow writeup was great



@Sunny: Thank you!



Also, Caterina herself just liked my review on Facebook :]

Demon of the Fall
August 16th 2022


35524 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Finally checked this, tis quite nice 👌🏻



Pleasing sounds. It’ll be interesting to see if it sticks but I do like what’s going on here, a very easy listening experience without descending into background music territory.

Demon of the Fall
August 20th 2022


35524 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

I could be persuaded to bump this up, really digging the atmos - a well balanced journey for sure

Checked out most of her stuff now, this stands out as being top tier but she seems pretty consistent overall to be fair



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