There are artists that talk about painful experiences and negative feelings with subtle metaphores, leaving room for interpretation and for the listener to make up their own version of the story in their head.
From what we can hear from this album, Alessa Gillespie is not one of them. She is opening up very bluntly about her struggles, there are no complex symbolisms masking the unease. It's a stream of consciousness that flows on a rugged path paved with tormented love, cynism, sadness, but also strenght, affirmation, liberation. The experience of being a trans woman in a society where certain identities are often rejected or fetishised, the insecurities, it's all out in the open, unsanitised, unfiltered, hitting the listener like a punch.
The production is minimal but effective, with soft and hypnotic sounds, occasionally stained by glithces that give an eerie and surreal flavour to the whole album. It feels like those dreams where everything seems eerie and unsettling but you can't pinpoint what is causing your distress. The vocals deliver the lyrics with measured disdain, sounding almost detached from the brutal stories she's telling, but you can feel the bitterness and the disappointment in every syllable. In some moments it feels like we are listening to her while sitting at the opposite side of a sticky table in a foggy half-empty pub, and she's venting to us directly, but we both know that there is nothing that we can do, so we just listen in silence.
This album is powerful. It will definitely resonate with everyone who as faced rejection, discrimination, or those who have experienced being used and discarded. And while Alessa's music won't solve our issues, it will make us feel less lonely. So thanks, Alessa, for sharing a piece of your beautiful soul with us.