It took me a little while, I'm not sure why, but it took me a little while to recognise the brilliance of The Light at the End of Decay. I liked the flute-centric opener, The Final Act, and the strange electropop follow up, Whirlpools, but it was Newly Strangers (produced by mars kumari) where things started to feel special.
It this spacey house track, with barely decipherable vocals and a constant four to the floor beat, and it's so goddamn atmospheric. There's a point where the vocals drop out and the ooh ooh oohing that comes in is so sweet it's like honey for the ears (side note: I love oohing and I really don't rate whoaing very highly at all, why do so many songs whoa like that?). The vocals are barely decipherable, but they're worth paying attention to anyway. There's this theme of childhood trauma, of being rejected by one's parents, and the self loathing that comes with it. They're truly sad and I don't think the beauty of the music itself hides that in any way.
This is a rock opera by the way. Maybe I should have started with that, but I don't necessarily pick up so much on a clear narrative as I do a general theme. One of disassociation and disillusionment with a capitalist state where people are judged and personal freedoms are limited. It feels like a rock opera too. The way these songs are composed, they're pop songs for sure but the arrangements are so detailed, the melodies and chord progressions so interesting, that the theatricality of it all comes through.
I mention that because Silver Screen takes you on a fucking journey. When it starts, you might not be ready for it, it sounds good but not necessarily special. It's when TV-MA sings "Painting pictures by the sea" that it reveals itself as something much better than it initially seemed. As much as I loved Newly Strangers, this was the precise moment where I really started to tune in. As the song progresses, flutes and strings flutter around each other while the beat pumps and bumps forwards.
And all this while one of the best things about this album hasn't even happened yet. That thing not being a thing at all but a person, a violinist, called Isaac Schutz. They get a short instrumental track to show off their stuff, but it's Heat Death where they really get to show off. It's so intense and cool, and really elevates both TV-MA's rapping and singing.
This album is incredible.
It's probably the best track, Heat Death. You should listen to the whole album but if you can't be bothered then you should at least listen to Heat Death.
So yeah, I like it a lot. The album closes with Nobody, featuring rapper 2 mello. It's slower and more reflective, and TV-MA and 2 mello interact with each other in a satisfying way. The arrangements are as good here as they have been throughout, and it does a good job at rounding out the album.
I really would recommend this album a lot. I think for some people it may take a moment to tune their ear to it because, despite the quite poppy sensibility to these songs, they are odd still. To me the album felt really refreshing and I'll likely listen to it several more times.