SPRAIN

Dichotomy of Beauty and Dissonance

The existence of "Easy Listening" implies the existence of "Difficult Listening", and this album would surely fall under that category.

Dichotomy ? "A division or contrast between two things that are or are represented as being opposed or entirely different."

I began my exploration of progressive, and experimental music approximately 25 years ago. Throughout the years my tastes have changed and I've gained an appreciation for different sounds and compositions, as is typical of the human experience. I have distinct memories of hearing specific songs or albums for the first time, and feeling like they had changed my perspective towards music. If you'd please humour me, I would now like to cite a few significant examples that will provide context for this review.

The albums "Metanoia", "Voyage 34", & In Absentia by Porcupine Tree provided me with an introduction to a style of music I was completely unaware existed. These works opened doors for my exploration into psychedelic and progressive music, as well as instrumental compositions of all genres.

The songs "Careful with That Axe, Eugene", "Echoes", and "Set the Controls For the Heart of the Sun" by Pink Floyd sent me down a rabbit hole of music from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The use of intentional dissonance on "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" was enlightening on the ways that "negative" sounds can improve "positive" sounds quality by establishing negative range. By this I mean in lieu of a scale from zero to ten, this implied a scale from negative ten to positive ten may exist and the difference between two sounds could be greater than I'd previously imagined.

I'll soon digress, and I will not bore you with a cataloguing of my exploration of musical experimentation. I do, however, ask that I provide one more example that I find perfectly prepared me to appreciate this album.

The 2004 album "Catch for Us the Foxes" by mewithoutYou opened my ears to several sounds and styles I had not heard previously. The vocalist Aaron Weiss uses a style best described as anger-fueled spoken-word. The lyrics are very personal poetry he delivers in a way that makes you believe he's experienced every hypothetical scenario he describes or relate to every simile that perfectly describes human experiences like suicidal thoughts/ideations, struggle with existentialism or spirituality, and detachment from relationships or humanity. Though I am now a devoutly anti-religious person, I still listen to this album and admire what they were able to do and how they were able to do it.

This brings us to the task at hand, somehow inditing a review for Sprain's 2023 album "The Lamb as Effigy". I deliberately titled this review using the word dichotomy, and in my foreword provided the definition, I will now elaborate on why. My description earlier on the change of my perspective on music from a zero to ten scale for positive to negative sounds according to criteria we've been indoctrinated to believe to a negative ten to positive ten scale based off of a new perspective. This perspective shift is that of dichotomy or balance, one cannot fully appreciate beautiful, melodic, or harmonious sounds while ignoring the role loud, dissonant, or "noise"(y) sounds have in the development of a full composition.

In the colour spectrum, every shade has a role and it is through contrast that they shine most brightly.

My first time hearing "The Lamb as Effigy" I felt as though it had been tailor-made for me. I'd been searching for this album for 19 years since I'd first heard "Catch for Us the Foxes" and in that time developed such an appreciation for extremity that I was now prepared for this album to be released. Serendipitously, I was blessed that the axes of time aligned for me to hear this album in a moment I was prepared to appreciate it.

From the moment the album starts with "Man Proposes, God Disposes" one is greeted by aggressive spoken-word vocals, and a unique brand of Post-Hardcore instrumentation that initially caused me to question what genre I was even listening to. The lyricism is incredible throughout the album, but this track in particular highlights a potential struggle the individual may be going through. This is later confirmed by an (in the distance, but clearly audible through the microphone) potential panic or anxiety attack the vocalist has while struggling to deliver the last few lines of the album. The personal nature of the subject matter is clearly evident and cannot be overlooked by the beautiful instrumental compositions on the album.

Back to my main theme, dichotomy. The album is perfectly balanced in ways I had not previously thought possible or palatable. The most extreme moments hold truly dissonant notes to the point that the listener's patience is pushed to their boundaries, almost as if the band is testing our limits. On the contrary, the most beautiful moments could almost be classified at Post-Rock instrumental compositions or a vocal style that could be considered operatic. These two dichotomous extremes balance out to form the most incredible album I've listened to in years.

By rights this year's Grammy Award for Album of the Year should have been a two-horse race between Sprain's "The Lamb as Effigy" and Betcover!!'s "卵 (Tamago)".

This album gave me hope for the continued evolution of musical experimentation.