It's quite familiar territory. When empty conversation starts up, that rhythmic downstroke guitar strumming immediately sounds like Elliott Smith, with its slightly dead sound and the audible hiss in the recording, and while the music may be sad I'm happy because I love Elliott Smith. It's not long before it takes on a life of its own and the personality behind impermanent marker's music starts to make itself known.
This is louder. Fuzzier. Even rougher around the edges. And it suits it. The vocals in that opening track are absolutely drenched in reverb, and the mid section builds and builds with falsetto backing vocals, a spiky second acoustic guitar, and a big wall of sound. It feels morbid, like witnessing your own funeral, and those are the kinds of moments that make this album stand out.
It's not all darkness, though. Not quite, anyway. The ballad, time tore us apart, is sad for sure, but there's a lightness to its nostalgic 6/8 rhythm. Despite the expression of great pain in the lyrics - "I was thinking about the ending, the blood leached from my heart" - there's an sense of acceptance to it. At least until the screaming fuzz in its final moments.
Those moments, like the stab of fuzz, moments of unexpected loudness, all help to contribute to the overall tone of the album. At first blush it's another lofi singer songwriter, but there's plenty of experimentation in how feelings can be expressed through sound. It makes the whole thing pretty engaging. The use of delay and reverb and distortion to create alien harmonies throughout.
It's good. I'd certainly recommend it if you like your music fuzzy and sad, if expression is more important to you that comfort, and if you're willing to look deep into the shadows of artist's soul.