Review Summary: heavenly agony
There’s a space where depression and beauty meet, and
Embody embodies such contradictions in a highly intriguing fashion. While its songs
sound entirely heavenly, Basement Revolver’s second album explores topics of declining mental health, identity and love with brutal honesty. Yet, the record’s explicit beauty doesn’t feel displaced: the Canadians approach their music with such affection and authenticity that every glossy vocal melody or fuzzed out guitar lick constructs an immersive atmosphere that manages to complement the looming gloom.
The album’s opening trio of tracks wastes no time solidifying
Embody’s excellence, showcasing a variety of influences while remaining firmly rooted in ethereal textures and painfully straightforward lyricism. ‘Skin’ traces in between shoegaze and dream pop, embracing twinkly reverb while using Chrisy Hurn-Morrison’s captivatingly detached voice to its fullest potential. Focusing on feelings of body dysmorphia, the riff-heavy ‘Be Okay’ seems to function as a direct answer to this by adding touches of desperation to explicit self-affirmations: “
Listen up, it’s just your friends / Be okay, be alright / Take a breath”. Even if it may not sound entirely sure of itself, the grungy atmosphere functions as an attempt to cast out any and all anxieties by whatever means necessary. Closing out this golden threesome, and admittedly front-loading the record rather heavily, the magnificent ‘Circles’ presents itself. Entirely exquisite yet contradictorily bleak, its peaceful melodies seem to serve as an antidote to Hurn-Morisson’s spiralling mental health. Moreover, the song feels like an effective reclamation of sorts: in spite of depression’s destructive nature, ‘Circles’ functions as proof that it can inspire some truly immersive art.
Thankfully, it’s not all sheer sadness. The upbeat ‘Transatlantic’ concretises a rare but perfect marriage of sound and story: its washed out indie pop aesthetics fit perfectly with the summery optimism of its lyrics. It’s a sip of clear lemonade amidst the confusing yet effective harmony of pain and bliss that defines most of
Embody. While the record’s cute-ish moments are pleasant, Basement Revolver are at their most compelling when letting loose and entering dreamily abrasive territories. As ‘Tunnel Vision’ summarises the best of the 90’s in less than three minutes, its repetitive patterns perfectly capture the song’s hypnotising atmosphere. Similarly, ‘Storm’s crescendo threatens to descend into delirium right before Hurn-Morrison returns to tell us to “
embrace the storm”. It’s a fitting mantra: as deceptively beautiful as the average lightning-ridden storm,
Embody is a wonderful experience while reflecting all the ugliness of mental health issues. While certain songs outshine others, it’s clear that Basement Revolver are onto something special. I hope they feel better soon.
