Music Review // ---__--____ "Night of Fire" (Orange Milk Records)

https://moreeaze.bandcamp.com/album/night-of-fire

I'm not sure how to pronounce this artist name and everyone I've asked (which has been a publicist and one of the artists) doesn't seem to know either.  I definitely like that about this, but I also like that this unspeakable named group is Seth Graham, More Eaze and Recovery Girl, all of whom have had Album Of The Year nods at one point and just been so important in music.  This, in many ways, is the type of super group that I dream about and that others should dream about as well.

"Night of Fire" begins with the titular track and the first thirty seconds of this album are as important as the rest of the album because it really sets the tone.   There is a scattering of strings then a spoken "1-2-3" as if everyone is scrambling to come together and begin the recording.  This turns into these very deep growls, distortion and just this piece of heavy music which feels like it's kind of lifting us up and taking us to where we need to be to begin this experience.  I don't know why this is my comparison point, but it feels like when you first press play you're getting onto the elevator.  Those sounds are taking you to the floor you need to be on, and that's the first fifteen seconds or so of this album.

Vocals come in now and they have this very pretty way about them, where it's this classical type of singing, just soft and there without feeling threatening at all.  When you think about the first fifteen seconds of this album- that preparing us for what is to come- it can come as a quick shock, but this is ten seconds of beauty that makes you feel like "Okay, maybe this is what this album is, or at least this song" and that puts you right into a false sense of comfort.   This very quickly drops off into the madness of the strings, growling and distortion returns and, again, by thirty seconds into this album you might be wondering what you've gotten yourself into but I'm loving every second of it.  

Coughing, sparce strings, heavier parts and just the contrast between the two carry on for the song.  This is the idea of what I consider in song to be that Jekyll and Hyde way where you go back and forth between just between this beautifully filled melody and then into distorted destruction.  The way that the strings can act as both sides- classical and chaos- just goes to show the range of the music, as the bass reigns down with the screaming and it can feel like we're about to hear an orchestra and about to rip it up in the pit at the same time.  The way this song just has layers, and the lyrics of "say it to my face" come out, just shows you how complex this all is and that is going to take you on a ride unlike any you've been on before.

"Countdown City" begins with a distorted voice singing "You motherfucker" and if you didn't think this might be where this was headed- that is to say if you're offended by this going into the second track, then you clearly weren't paying enough attention on the first one.   Autotune type singing comes through with sad strings and this just begins to feel more like a 100 gecs song but that one where charli XCX was with them.  The distorted vocals return to disrupt things as well, then spoken words as the tones begin to feel more like organs.  There is something to be said here for this feeling church, demons, etc.

By the end of the second song (coincidence?) the numbers are being counted down: 2, 1.   This is important because as we dive deeper into this album, into the second song, you can really feel the duality of it.   Yes, there are three people making these sounds, but when they come out, you can really feel like it is two souls within the same body, at war with themselves.  These are the types of things college students write entire essays about because when you think of concepts such as good and evil, there are a lot of "this and that" type of examples which could also be applied to what is happening on this album.

Speaking of good versus evil, this snarling sound with maximum static comes out to start "Christian Rock".   It feels like there is a trumpet and then drumming as those pretty vocals return.  In many ways, this can feel like someone took that sound of those melodic vocals which feel like they have autotune in them as well and then that track was recorded over with everything you hear that goes against that vibe.  It's like taking 100 gecs and putting Fire-Toolz over it, but the end result isn't quite what you'd expect, because this was done intentionally to both compliment each other and sometimes feel like there is a rift between the two it just has this flow to it.  

"Formation" has this ringing trill within it, but for the most part this song embraces the screaming / distortion and is just letting the beast out.   This takes us into a more soulful, R&B type of song with "Kill Kare", which features Diana Starshine.  This can drop off, back into the distortion and screaming, but it doesn't feel the same as the other songs.  As a fourth person is now present making this music, it feels as if help has been called to help this demon which is inside of whoever might the protagonist in this story (Perhaps, dear reader, it is you as the listener!)   This is so perfect as an album as well because there aren't really "singles" as much as there are songs which will either draw you in or make you politely ask to turn it off.

Almost halfway through "Kill Kare" it gets quiet and then these blissed out tones come through with the ahhhhh's of vocals.   Lyrics like "I considered your hand on mine" come through and this has just broken down into this beautiful, angelic love song.   Strums like a harp and this song just has taken us to this place where the music, as of this point, has not yet because it's just the pure light side of this sound, that beast, that demon is not present.   As this takes us into "Eating out on Xmas", there is some heavy distortion in the music but the vocals remain pretty.  A little bit of glitching (which I think is the Seth Graham influence) and for almost a minute we were at peace before the distorted screaming vocals returned.   

"Darke County" comes out with these swirls of whispers where it feels like whatever is up inside of you making these distorted screams is being caught so that it can be controlled.  Bursts of the distortion still come through though, as we go back to this almost church-like tone.   The sound can become quite dark as this song feels like the musical version of an exorcism.   Sad notes dropping in the background, vocals screaming with static as if being electrocuted.   There is a lot to process here.  This song- "Darke County"- feels a lot like destroying ones past self and taking the steps needed to become a new, better version of yourself going forward.  

The final song is called "When god released me" and the vocals are distorted now but somehow seem more calm.   The lyrics are talking about hating their favorite bands because it reminds them of when you were still here and could misunderstand them.   This does shift back into screams, as if all of these trapped souls have been released.  Everything seems to be coming in full force, and with Lucy Liyou, for the big finale.   The strings really make this feel so sad at the end, but also so finite.  It also comes to a peaceful end, which given the harshness of the album otherwise might be a bit surprising but it works.

Two of the biggest take aways from this album are first off how you can think of these artists as individuals and then just taking those solo projects and kind of piecing them together to create this, in some way.  There isn't, perhaps, a better way to describe this than to think of sushi and how it can work as if you're just eating cucumber or cream cheese, but it also creates this new entity as the sum of its components which can be just as good if not better.  So, yes, this can feel like listening to three albums (sometimes four) at the same time while also just still facing that two-faced type of sound, so there is a lot going on that you need to deeply explore.

The second biggest take away from this album goes back to it not really having a "single" and that also means this isn't really the type of album I'd listen to in my car while driving.  It's not the type of thing where you listen to a few songs that stop halfway through one like "Oh! We're at Target".   However, I would love to hear this coming out of car speakers loudly just to see the expressions on the faces of other people and how they react to it.  The idea "Oh, how pretty" to "What the hell" could be realized quite quickly.

So this all begs the question when would you listen to this album.  I do believe this album is something personal in the sense that you could listen to it by yourself, whether you're going through it mentally and emotionally or just need a reminder of how things could be worse.  There is a trope in cartoons where characters get a little devil and a little angel on each shoulder when they have to make a decision.  I feel like this album is about not listening to that little devil, to kind of cast out those bad thoughts, but also just rebirth if you need to leave behind parts of yourself that no longer work for you.  And that doesn't even have to be a bad things because those former pieces don't have to be inherently evil.  Leaving them behind could just be a sign of growth.