Pinched. - "(fool)" | Review

I first wrote about Greg Siganos' solo project Pinched. about a year ago when he released his self-titled "3-P." With a single seven-minute song released in the interim, Siganos is back with (fool), his first full-length album since 2018. Pinched. has always been Siganos' place to tap into the raw energy that comes from making music in your bedroom with a few pieces of equipment; this record harnesses that rawness and pushes it to Siganos' creative limits, blending subtlety and introspection with chaos. 

(fool) starts out in the aftermath of change, leaving Siganos to pick up the pieces. Most of the lyrics in "Change," the opening track, flow in a stream of consciousness, almost cutting each other off. The shock and rawness are apparent with the final lines of verse one - "You say, 'Hey man, all okay?' / How could one with all this change?" Much of (fool)'s opener feels like a back and forth between that inner monolog and the rest of your thoughts. The shock and rawness felt on "Change" are felt throughout the first third of the record. "Bleu" wrestles with where to place the blame just to find some respite while "Dog" unleashes the frustration of feeling cornered and not being able to break the cycle. Despite the bleaker moments in the first half, "Dog" shows the first glimpses of maybe figuring it out. Siganos declares that no matter how long it takes that he won't be held back. 

The record is broken up into three separate interludes. Each is incredibly different and sets the tone of the next set of songs. Moving out of the first section and into the middle third feels almost like switching from black and white to color. "Interlude I" creates tension leading into tracks six and seven. The guitars become distorted, and the drums move from gentle time keeping to becoming bombastic. It's a moment of catharsis for the record and sets up "Skin" to be thematic a high point on the record. The track is about as naked as a song on (fool) can be. It's minimally produced compared to the rest of the record, which parallels its theme of finally feeling comfortable in your own skin. 

At just under three minutes, "Interlude II" is not only one of the album's longest songs, but it sets you up for a surreal come down into the final third of the release. Its dreamy synths create an expansive launch pad for "Alleyway." As it grows in instrumentation, the track attempts to reclaim what was lost earlier in the release. Acoustic guitars are propelled forward by sweeping piano chords and auxiliary instruments in an attempt to create one final peak on the record. From there, (fool) faded into a false sense of calm on "Bed," the album's closer. The track is as fragile as the opener with just vocals and a guitars being underscored by the ambient sounds of a quiet night. "Bed" lulls you to sleep just to return for a tense reprise giving you the sense that things may not be wrapped up as cleanly as you thought. 

Like any Pinched. release, (fool) showcases Siganos' sense of storytelling through soundscapes and collages along with lyrics - there is almost a 3D world that supports the narrative and gives it life in different ways. All that aside, (fool) is a singer-songwriter record at heart. You could strip away the additional production and you would still be left with a person and a guitar baring their soul. 

(fool) is out now. You can listen to it below.