VISSIA, Little Snake, and Sam Tudor
VISSIA
With Pleasure // Hurry Hard Records
Alt-pop artist, VISSIA, has released her sophomore album through Hurry Hard Records and it holds some must-listen tracks. The Alberta artist experiments with disco influences and layered harmonies, which make for an album that is somehow both fresh and timeless.
With Pleasure has been highly anticipated by many after she released a few upbeat singles, which are quite different from her known folk sound. The album follows this more upbeat, alternative-pop style and fits her voice incredibly well. It feels like it’s bursting with hope and a fresh start. She keeps the songs light and fun, while adding in a mix of genres, greatly diversifying the album.
The top track for me is definitely “My Wom”. The song has empowering lyrics about doing what you want without needing approval and features refreshing harmonies that create the feeling of support behind the lyrics. It has a guitar riff that gets stuck in your head and makes you click the repeat button so you can hear it over and over again. Halfway through the track, a tambourine appears as well, which makes just about any song better in my opinion.
One of the singles released prior to the album, “On My Mind” is another great song. Featuring a dance beat and a disco synth, it’s hard not to groove along. Throughout the entire album, but specifically on this track, her voice reminds me of someone else that I really like. I can’t put my finger on it and have been struggling to figure out who she sounds like, so I have decided that, perhaps, I just like her voice and am already experiencing feelings of nostalgia for it.
I could write about every track on this album, but will leave it at those two and just mention a couple others. The guitar and chord progression in “Never Gonna Be the Same” are really fun and intriguing, which definitely deserves a listen. Finally, “Take It Apart” is a fast-paced track that belongs in an emotional movie scene where the lead is dancing by themselves letting it all out.
I really like this album and am really thankful that I have been introduced to VISSIA. She seems like a really diverse and fun artist, which is exactly what I like!
- Holly-Anne Gilroy
Little Snake
A Fragmented Love Story, Written By The Infinite Helix Architect // Brainfeeder
A Fragmented Love Story, Written By The Infinite Helix Architect, Calgarian-producer Little Snake's debut album, is a love story for the interdimensional-infinite double-helix age. A cautionary and fragmented browse through the song's titles and musical offerings may leave some listeners searching for a word to describe what they just experienced. Is Little Snake's debut 'musical chaos'?
Well, chaos usually suggests entropy - a lack of order or a gradual decline into disorder. What kind of thing is that to say? Little Snake hisses and slithers along the lines of entropy but never dips so much as a little snake tongue into the territory. A volcano erupting or a star being born may also seem chaotic at first - there's all kinds of shit on flames, bursting all over. A closer look hints at careful and deliberate processes.
All my careful and deliberate (stupid?) descriptions aside, what are we looking at? Listening to? Little Snake, real name Gino Serpentini, has produced an album that is akin to a beautifully weird flower growing out of the figurative tar sands of Calgary (J.K., the tar sands are located well outside the city (J.K., we Calgarians love our city)). "A Fragmented Love Story..." is just that - a love story dedicated to music production and music listening. How did I reach this conclusion?
The first track on the album, "exterior to me", begins with the sound of volume being turned up and a metronome clacking its rhythmic tune. Is the metronome exterior to the musician? I know a lot of guitarists who love to ignore the metronome - this isn't really an option if you're producing electronic music. The metronome is warped and bastardized - sometimes our own 'exteriors' are alien even to us. Maybe we should reject the rigidity of the clicking metronome - forget you, and your perfect timing! (but not actually).
Chaos really isn't a good descriptor for ambitious music. Chaos suggests non-chaos or sticking to boundaries. Do these tunes push the boundaries of EDM? The question itself seems to suggest the existence of boundaries. There are no boundaries, and it's best to stop comparing and enjoy the experience.
My favourite song on the album is "Fallen Angels", co-produced with Flying Lotus. I've listened to this song while walking to work at 4am, while walking home in the evening, and while walking to grab a case of beer. I do a lot of listening while walking. What I found interesting about this song was that the feeling was different for me depending on the time of day and what I was doing... at 4am, the tune that kicks in at 1:40 scares the crap out of me. In the afternoon, that same part of the song makes me bob my head so heavily I feel it in my sacroiliac. This is the eponymous Love Story - sometimes love is scary, sometimes it makes you want to rock out. Music has the same effect. This is where I draw the connection between the love story and the music - the title of the album is quite apt when you think about it. The solipsist in me sees himself as the Infinite Helix Architect; the solipsist in me also thanks myself for producing all this great music.
For the record, I first listened to these songs on my cell phone's built-in speaker. My girlfriend was sitting next to me, and she is extremely sensitive to ASMR - her spine was tingling an autonomous sensory response from the very first sounds of "The Machine". I can't imagine how she would respond listening to these tunes in our studio basement, where the JBL speakers roam free, and everything vibrates in harmony. I highly recommend listening to this album on headphones first to appreciate the squishy sounds, the fuzzy bass, and a whole range of other sounds that will drive your speakers to their limit. Blast the album on speakers for your second listen. The hour flies by, and your mind will produce some interesting images. Close your eyes and listen to "this interlude presents: Absurdism !!"; focus on what you see. I was pleasantly surprised.
- Alex Bennett
Sam Tudor
Two Half Words // Self Released
There is a deep emptiness that has crept into the world, an unshakeable feeling of not belonging, or not belonging well enough. This is not a new feeling, however in 2021, it is hard not to feel as if nothing is ever whole…
Both an individual person, and a DIY collaboration project, Sam Tudor creates instrumental and lyrical confessions that are eerie, captivating, and eclectic. Mixing and producing the songs himself gives this project that sincere touch and control that makes the music and the artist stand apart. Greatly influenced by the jazz and experimental music communities in Vancouver and Toronto, this sound is hauntingly beautiful and intimately displays a complexity in simplicity.
The newest album to come from this project is titled Two Half Words. It explores the core of isolation and disconnect, and “the feeling of living in two places but feeling like you belong in neither.” There is something about the vulnerability of the vocals, the honesty of the lyrics, and the melancholy of the harmonies that makes the sound exist, “as if under a blanket, light barely snuck in through the fabric’s weave.” A peek into a life of loneliness, with the security of knowing you are not completely alone in it – torn between two places, people, things that do not fully encompass you, but are mere pieces. Although not Tudor’s first album, and hopefully not his last, this record is sure to both haunt and comfort you.
Two Half Words begins with a high-energy dance beat that is reminiscent of a Drake song with a dash of world music, and a sprinkle of mournful whimsy. Farther along the track list is a beautifully colourful, lightly painted mental image of a person just trying to fit in. Trying to mould themselves into the person they “should be”, but failing to do so. “Change My Shape” is dusted with gorgeous melodies that add a whole other layer to the story. Although the entire album is a piece of art, it is most important to touch finally on the ending of the album. “You’re a Winner Today” is a spoken song that features soft guitar and storytelling. It encourages you to keep going, to take a breath, to embrace the beauty in the emptiness. It is the perfect song to lie awake to, stare at the ceiling to, or fall asleep to while it plays softly through your headphones.
Sam Tudor continues to grow musically, as does the group of friends who contribute, and the atmospheric depth grabs onto the empty space that is all too present these days. Because this project is a collaboration across Canada, it defies the concept of genre, and reaches all ears with a sense of longing and deep respect for the craft.
- Krystle McGrath
