Review Summary: Comfortable seclusion.
Near the outer edge of northern Wisconsin stands the town of Cornucopia. With a population of near 100, this little area is tucked far away from civilization, with only the highway cutting across as a remnant of what is lying in the distance. It, like many other small towns scattered around this vast amount of woodlands and otherwise nothingness, shares a feeling of seclusion and distance whenever visited. This album, in accordance with its title, shares the same feeling.
Freudia is the project of one Nick Williams, a resident of Green Bay, around 300 miles out. The instruments are all played by him, and they are recorded in his bedroom, with a limited selection of microphones and equipment used. (This includes percussion, for which only hand instruments are used in place of a standard drum set.) These lo-fi ideals are very apparent upon first listen, but rather than the hard DIY fuzz typically associated with the genre, there is more of an atmospheric haze to the recording. On almost all of the tracks, however, this method of recording seems beneficial to the album's experience as a whole, providing a psychedelic backdrop to folky, sun-infused indie pop.
That isn't to say that this album didn't have psychedelic tendencies. This is especially apparent on a track like "Ego Man", where a light guitar melody backed by soft percussion and light vocals give way to a soaring
"WOAAAH-OHHH-OHHH-OHHH" mixed with a driving organ lead. "Rain" takes it cues from
Sung Tongs with the use of acoustic guitar, and "Bass Dance" features a swirling synth above a driving bass, while a guitar floats in and out. While still slightly indebted to their influences, these tracks (and others) provide an interesting take on sunny-but-light psychedelia.
Cornucopia also seems to address the same themes of distance and seclusion in its lyrics. This introspective approach is especially reflected on tracks like "Ego Man", a song about, well, having too big of an ego for your own good, and "When Are You Coming Home?", a track about a sibling that has left the home. The lyrics themselves aren't mind-blowing, but they are well-written and serviceable to the overall theme of the album.
This album is not going to break in a new genre, nor it is going to be Freudia's magnum opus. However, this album succeeds greatly in that it provides indie pop that is well-executed, well-written, and uses cues from its influences without overemphasizing on them. The standouts on here ("Ego Man", "Bass Dance") are phenomenal, and are a good indication of the potential of what's to come from this young musician.
