Mostly, I think the answer is tone and mood. When we look at the rock and metal worlds, right now there is such an abundance of 80s throwbacks, there isn't much in the sub-genres I listen to that has a melodic, melancholy feeling. That's where my head has been, but it isn't where the artists happen to be. So much of the new music I find myself listening to is trying to be an uplifting moment of optimism, trying to posture with bravado, or trying to purge a deep pit of anger. None of those approaches are resonating with me. In recent years, many of my favorite records were those that acknowledged the darkness, and used it as a backdrop for taking the first steps back toward the light.
Let's use Soen as an example. Three times I have given them the Album Of The Year award, and it's for good reason. Their music can be described in many ways, but the key for today is that they make metal with darker guitar tones and heavily melancholy vocals. Many of their melodies are fighting toward optimism, but the sound roots them in the reality that it may be a futile effort. Katatonia has mastered that art; showing the beauty the moonlight can illuminate when things are at their darkest. It isn't about depression, but instead about embracing all aspects of the human condition.
It was pure chance that something about Origin Of Escape's "Shapes" caught my attention. I scroll through the list of albums being released every week looking for the gem that hasn't been polished yet, and it is an inexact science. I write some off because of their name, some because of their genre, and some because of the impression their artistic sensibilities give me. Origin Of Escape caught my eye for reasons I can't fully explain (maybe it was the album art - just look at that!), and it is those bits of luck that pay off all the others I wish hadn't.
The core sound of the album is a blend of Katatonia's "City Nights" album, with hints of Soen's percussive guitars added in. It is not a 'happy' album, by any means, but it has the sense of appreciation for what lies in the shadows I have been so drawn to. It's a subtle album, one that doesn't hit you over the head with either its riffs or its melodies. It requires a bit of time and patience to wade through the fog. Many of the verses trade in atmosphere, using dynamics to set up a harder attack when the songs are ready to explode. There is a percolating energy to these songs, wherein we build to the emotional response in a way that feels both natural and deserved.
I don't like the idea of needing to work to understand an album, but there is something to be said for not being handed everything right off the bat. "Shapes" is not the most immediate of albums. You won't find yourself singing the melodies after one run-through, but you may remember the feelings they evoke. At least I did.
And there is the magic word; 'feelings'. What I've been missing from music is having a record point to something in me I was already feeling, or even something I didn't know I was feeling. Music has a magical gift for taking thoughts and feelings exiting within us, turning them into something beautiful, then letting us see ourselves reflected in the jewel. When I'm listening to the deep guitars and the painful howls as they stand resolute in the face of an even bleaker future, it feels like an honest reflection of the world, it mirrors many of my own feelings.
That is why "Shapes" is standing out to me right now as the one album this year making the most important of connections. While others have some fun songs to sing along with, or have guitar playing that is a remarkable showcase of skill, this is the album that transcends the disposable nature of music in our modern age. It isn't often that something, no matter how good it is, makes itself seem vital. "Shapes" has done that in this first part of the year.
What more can I say?
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