Review Summary: I have a darkness.
Meshes of Voice is a project where Jenny Hval and Susanna brings the best out of each other. This collaborative album’s framework is based on Meshes of the Afternoon, a 1943 film that details how simple everyday occurrences develop subconsciously into an emotional and critical experience. Once one dozes off everyday activities turn into events of deep seated frustration and loneliness when your mind is free to wonder. The duo’s abstract lyricism and other worldly instrumentation envisions a black lake where the sounds of nature become enveloped in a wall of cacophonous noise. The mysterious night turns every day animals into monsters of darkness, something out of a child’s nightmare.
The warm and nurturing inflections in Jenny and Susanna’s singing creates a false sense of comfort, making the the dark and hazy atmosphere even more unsettling. I’d compare it to children in horror movies like the twins from the Shining. You would normally never associate a young child with a haunted hotel or a psychotic killer, and that makes the innocent sound even more terrifying. Soon enough the Black Lake transforms their voices becoming more and more demonic with each passing second. Jenny and Susanna’s abstract lyrics help to separate the subconscious from reality, when something so odd and ridiculous is being described you can’t help but to be transported out of the experience.
“I got milk running down my boobs. I got milk running down my legs.”
It helps to remind the listener that it’s only a dream. You’re not in any real danger, you’re not any closer to having an existential crisis involving a breakdown over how meaningless and disatisfying your current existence actually is. Go back to your simple life, not batting an eyelash to the underlying depression that’s eating you up bit by bit turning you into something you're not. These are the issues
Meshes of Voice faces us with in an artistically gratifying way. The dreams we escape to are actually closer to the truth than we’d like to believe. Issues that we bury deep down come out in full force when your mind has free reign.
Musically
Meshes is more dissonant than anything. While Jenny and Susanna harmonize perfectly resulting in an abundance of melodic treats to the ear. The sharp keys and rough industrial sounds really clash with the duo’s naturally harmonious singing. The two opposing forces are constantly at war, and the balance created is middle ground that drowns out the extremes on either side. Musical oddities likes bells or static are strewn throughout fleshing out
Meshes simple instrumentation. “O Sun O Medusa” is a stunning display of beauty and elegance where Jenny and Susanna have their time to shine vocally. The stripped down instrumentation highlights the duo’s poetic and grotesque lyrics.
Meshes creates a world of it’s own, where all elements are working with and against each other. It highlights new perspectives on monotonous daily routines, forcing the listener to reevaluate their own life choices. A challenging album sonically and lyrically,
Meshes of Voice given the chance could be a life altering album.
