Review Summary: A soundtrack for your life.
This last decade has been a great time for sample-based and electronic music. Artists like Ricky Eat Acid, Tim Hecker and others create such synthetic music with so much humanity and fondness.
Vernon Eat Wax is a Portuguese artist whose main characteristic is to make music that could soundtrack your life as it was a film. In some respects, his music can be compared to Ricky Eat Acid, but I feel Vernon is more down-to-earth and eclectic. Vaporwave, classical, noise, dream pop and lo-fi folk are the genres he loves to toy with the most.
On this record, "alter deo", we are presented with more ambition and intimacy. On"heroin cave" Vernon comes through with his innocent and teenage voice in order to tell us what his sadness sounds like. On "neo", a church choir penetrates his mind while he goes home and finds it difficult to go in. The emptiness on what comes after that door is heartbreaking. Then, some women are talking about mundane things (in Portuguese) that really feels like home, a moment with your family. After that, a speedy Brazilian inspired song comes in at light-speed! It's disturbing and funny at the same time. The transitions on this album always seem I'm waking up from a really intense dream.
I could go on describing this album, but I won't for two reasons:
1- This record has a lot of details. Not because it's dense, but the emotions are really strong and varied. I find difficult to describe this record without going personal.
2- Although "alter deo" takes a pretty religious and metaphysical tone, it's nothing but a soundtrack. For me, this album doesn't have to mean anything, it's just this friend you want to talk to about your existential problems or something that really stuck into your head.
This record is not exactly sad or happy. However, it can bring you up or down, depending on your mood. If you're interested in some experimental ambient music, with a pretty human touch, check this out.
