After a brief one-week hiatus (not much came out last week), we're back in business. However, instead of a traditional NMF, I'm going to talk about the new Deafheaven album in detail.
Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love (ANTI-)
To say that I've been excited for this album would be an understatement. The fourth studio release from the California blackgaze band has topped my most-anticipated-releases list ever since they teased fans with some studio photos back in January. Then, we got two singles - "Honeycomb" and "Canary Yellow." The two lengthy tracks indicated a reintegration of some of the sounds that made their sophomore album, Sunbather, so incredible. Overall, the atmosphere was lighter, almost like the sun peaking through the clouds after an extended time in the dark (I'm looking at you New Bermuda). The heaviness was still present, but it was being removed. OCHL seems to form the conclusion of a trilogy, an emotional progression. If Sunbather was watching the sun descend into the depths of the hills, then New Bermuda was the inevitable raging against the dying of the light. It was a howl against each passing moment that continued the hopeless darkness. The album's title could be interpreted in the sense of being lost in a new dark collection of feelings. Instead of vanishing into a spot of ocean, the band was delving into their own minds. OCHL is the sun's return, stylistically and emotionally. It is a record inspired by the survival of defeat and loss. The band "surface[s] on the other side, walk[s] toward the light, and come[s] back to life." In addition to the sense of thematic conclusion and a return to Sunbather's form (in structure and sound), there are new elements, too. Much has been made of the literary references presented in several notable ways. The title comes from a Graham Greene novel; vocalist/lyricist George Clarke references Argentinian author Julio Cortez in "Honeycomb." Instead of exploding into sonic wonder like the past two albums, OCHL starts with piano. On "You Without End," actress Nadia Kury reads an excerpt from a short story by Tom McElravey depicting the intimate small moments that our lives ultimately consist of. Later, on penultimate track "Night People," the inimitable Chelsea Wolfe and her self-described "fluid collaborator" Ben Chisolm come in with some clean vocals. What? Clean vocals? On MY Deafheaven song? Yes, and it works beautifully. While OCHL falls into the Sunbather's long-short/loud-soft pattern of song length/style, it uses those brief reprieves in a wholly unique way. However, there is no need to fret. The main meat of the album is still the expertly composed fusion of black metal, shoegaze, and post-rock we have come to expect from Deafheaven. Over the course of their career, they have managed to be a band that adheres to a certain sound but still guarantees that each new album is going to blow listeners' minds. While the title of the album comes off as somewhat cynical, it truly acts as a tribute to love itself. "Everybody has the capacity to overcome and love again," taken from the band's website, could be read as a thesis statement for the album. It may not be perfect, it may take a lot of time, but it is possible. Exit the dream, even if it is blissful, and enter the daylight.
Listen on Spotify here.
Listen on Apple Music here.
Other Releases
Between the Buried and Me - Automata II
Chief Keef - Mansion Musick
Collections of Colonies of Bees - HAWAII
Dirty Projectors - Lamp Lit Prose
Homebody Sandman & Edan - Humble Pi
Rick Astley - Beautiful Life
The Jayhawks - Black Roads and Abandoned Motels
Wet - Still Run
Wiz Khalifa - Rolling Papers 2
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