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‘falling away’ - girlfrompluto Review
In this Music Mondays exclusive review, MM Staff Writer Em sat down to give some thoughts on girlfrompluto's latest release, 'falling away'.
1/27/23
It takes a special album for me to be drawn immediately to it at first listen to the intro track, and ‘falling away.’ was nothing short of special. It is instantly made clear that girlfrompluto is defining her sound more concretely than ever before on her latest seven track album, and the result is a diverse amalgamation of sound and styles mixed in such a way that feels entirely its own.
open.spotify.com/album/1eAmo91p9qkntusJ0EnumF?si=tC7y1xwRTc6teSJ0nlGLEQ
Her repeated use of crescendos during the course of the opener- and title track give the listener an insight into the atmospheric, blissful half hour that is rest of the album. Immediately following an opening track that felt like the opening scene of a coming of age film, the listener is thrown ever deeper into the soundscape that is ‘falling away’ with ‘dead fantasy’. This track, featuring a stunning guest appearance from frequent collaborator saturnultra in the second half, is a four and a half minute ride that feels like driving on a winding road through a pure white landscape at night. The lyric “sitches and the staples will never make it stable” makes me think back to previous track’s repeated phrase “daggers in my heart” further perpetuating these intertwined feelings of pain and love.
From here, we get the bubbly ‘excise.’ featuring 65finally, in which the anime ‘bloom into you’ is sampled. Her ability to evoke such real emotions in her music through unconventional vocal mixing, akin to artists such as Yabujin, is perfectly showcased on this track. Track four ‘for the first time.’ is a shining example of the cinematic aspects of this album that initially drew me to it. The song goes in more of an EDM direction, as opposed to the cloud rap adjacent instrumental of the previous one. It drowns to an end and brings the listener into ‘bloom.’, an ethereal track about feeling terrified to admit your true feelings to that one person you’re in love with.
‘pretend.’ featuring ilysm feels like the climax to the unnamed coming of age film that I mentioned earlier in this review, highlighting the consistency that played a key part in this project, and part of what makes it truly special. Much like how Yung Lean can work with so many different genres on an album, yet keeping them very much confined to one overarching sound. I think girlfrompluto cares as much about consistency as she does versatility, and I think she draws from her inspirations- especially the non-musical ones, in the most creative and personal ways. The record comes to an end with ‘decay.’ a soft closer with meaningful lyrics that wrap up all of the powerful emotions displayed throughout previous tracks, a really special ending to a truly beautiful album.
Follow girlfrompluto: twitter.com/girlfromplut0
Stream falling away: open.spotify.com/album/1eAmo91p9qkntusJ0EnumF?si=5g2DLXNeSSeN9GofagR3Bw
Written By Em Bishoff: twitter.com/emofc_
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