ALBUM REVIEW: the new sounds - geordie greep

this album is wacky. there is no other way to put it, its a wild ride from start to finish. the protagonist of the album, who's perspective is conveyed by uk guitarist, songwriter, singer, and composer geordie greep, comes across as a very emotionally and mentally unstable character in search of love and validation. the lyrics of the album are full of desperation, envy, longing, desire, and despair, with many musings on romance, death, sex, power, self-worth, and other heavly topics surrounding the human condition.

as for form, this album has a duration of 1hr and 2 mins, with a relatively short tracklist of 11 songs. most of the songs land around 4-6 mins, with the second to last song, the magician, lasting a whopping 12 mins. i was surprised looking at the album after i listened to it, the majority of the songs have multiple parts and beat switches, so i thought it would have a greater number of shorter songs.

the instrumentals in this album are just as wacky as the lyrics. the best way i could describe it is unhinged jazz rock with heavy bossa nova and samba influence. it flirts with other genres as well, with the ending of walk up sounding like a song you'd hear in a 1960's western-themed kids cartoon, and the beginning of the first track, blues, sounding like what you would get if you told chatGPT to generate a talking heads type beat. erratic beat switches and unpredictability aside, this album is masterfully produced and meticulously arranged, it undoubtedly takes the effort of an incredibly talented musician to create a work like this. upon first listen, geordie greep's 1960's and 1970's psychedelic rock influences are very strong, in addition to sounds pulled from japanese jazz, brazilian tropcalia, and dramatic 1950's crooner records (frank sinatra type, you get it).

I would say this album is an artistic experience, rather than a piece of entertainment. its definitely not something you kick back and indulge in after a long day at work, that is, unless you find frantically and desperately contemplating the human condition relaxing. this

album has moments of ease and musical beauty, but the majority of them are followed or accompanied by jarring lyrics that put the listener in the mind of a very troubled man. although i thoroughly enjoyed the masterfully composed melodies and instrumentals of the album, i was unsettled by the lyrics, mostly because tthe separation between the inner dialogue of the protagonist and geordie greep himself is unclear. i've got to admit, the forcefulness and power in his voice combined with his both extremely controlled and unhinged vocal style, and his strong british accent was a lot to process. i greatly admire the creativity of this project and the obvious talent that went into making it, but much like other forms of expressionist art, its not something made for passive or pleasant consumption.

thank you @Naaabiittz for the rec!