Music Review // Allegra Krieger "Art Of The Unseen Infinity Machine" (Double Double Whammy)

https://allegrakrieger.bandcamp.com/album/art-of-the-unseen-infinity-machine

  The first time I heard and reviewed Allegra Krieger was in 2020 and the album "The Joys Of Forgetting".   Since then, between that album and "Art of the Unseen Infinity Machine", Allegra Krieger has released an album of "memos" in 2020, EPs that could make enough songs to form an album in 2021, a full length album in 2022 and a full length album in 2023 (all of which I must go back and listen to now)

In many ways, going without really keeping up with Allegra Krieger for these past four years and now feeling like I'm trying to catch up can feel like running into an old friend and trying to catch up with them only in a musical sense it is much easier because you can pause songs, read lyrics and just have the music to be listened to at your leisure rather than sitting down one day in a coffee shop and reconnecting with someone in an hour or so.

The sound of Allegra Krieger is overall dreamy and somewhat folk.   "Never Arriving" has that stronger bass line which reminds me of The Get Up Kids via their "On A Wire" album while "Came" has a sadder country feeling to it.    At times this could be alt rock, along the lines of That Dog, and then "Burning Wings" can get really dreamy like a lullaby.   These songs are not really for driving or activity but more for relaxing, taking it slow on a hot summer day.

"I'm So Happy I Cannot Face Tomorrow" is my favorite song on this album.   It's just such a solid song with this clockwork-like guitar behind it.   "Over and Out" verges on the sound of Sheryl Crow while "Into Eternity" has these poetic lyrics which make it feel like The Doors, as the tambourine slowly rattles.   As this is also available on record, "Into Eternity" can feel like a descent into madness and it would also end the first side of the record.

A piano piece serves as an interlude to start up the second side and that mellow music becomes even ethereal.  As we get into "How Do You Sleep" there are drums and just this concept between Bob Dylan and No Doubt.   Distortion kicks in on the song and that idea of distortion carries onto "Where You Want to Go" there is also this great musical piece within the song, without lyrics, to express that overall vibe.

Lyrically this album htis hard and it hits right away.   The first song, "Roosevelt Ave", has the lines:

You don’t have a home

You’re just a fleck of light passing by

Ticking like a metronome

The bold and blatant lyrics continue all the way to "Where You Want to Go", which says:

Fuck what you feel

Cause this is America baby

If you don’t like the way that it’s going then maybe just

Sit back and wait for the sky

To come crashing over

Ultimately, as the listener you will pull out your own lyrics that you particularly enjoy, but this music will continue to resonate.  I feel as if the importance of this album is that life moves fast, a lot can happen in a single instant, and as such we need to sometimes slow things down and just take the time to let it all sink in.   Whether you feel like you need that break or not, press play on this one and find yourself becoming a part of it.