I like to think I've got a bit of an iron stomach when it comes to weird shit, so imagine my surprise, that crushing sense of dread, upon hitting play on Lithium and a Lollipop by CHRIS of WILDERNESS. Oh no. Had I bitten off more than I could chew? Had I been a poser this whole time, espousing my love of the weird and wobbly before retreating back to the same handful of 90s alternative rock albums I've been listening to for decades?
Maybe. When opening track season of surrender started, I was flummoxed. I could hear synths, for sure, squelchy ones. And maybe a pitch-shifted clarinet or oboe or something. And the some of the weariest sounding vocals this side of the galaxy. And none of it was clicking for me, none of it was forming into something coherent that I could latch onto and find something to enjoy. I respected it, for sure, but I didn't understand it.
Usually when I write a review for an album, I have a digital notepad open to jot down my thoughts on each track as I go, but I gave up on this process fairly quickly with this one and went about my business while the album played in the background. At some point, it stopped bothering me. Not only had it stopped bothering me, but I'd started to enjoy it. I'd locked into its groove and everything started working for me. I even went back and listened to that first track when it was done and wondered what the hell had gotten my knickers in a twist in the first place.
This album's groove is a strange one, but there's plenty to enjoy here once you give it a second. There's a few standouts here, too. I really love overliving, which reminds me a little of AFX's Analord series, albeit with a bit of an oddball lofi twist. born to float is a stand out too, with its distorted backing vocals and broken twangs making for something that feels surprisingly evocative, and there's a sadness to the vocal delivery too.
So it's a difficult album, absolutely, but I do think it's one that's worth the time. There's artistry here, a picture that comes together over the course of the record that's full of pathos and anxiety beneath the madness. I think if you can adjust your palate to its particular flavours, you'd likely really enjoy it.