A healthy mental state is the acceptance of the complexity of emotions and recognising the value of one’s highs and one’s lows. This is exactly the process that 'farawayfromeveryoneyouknow' attempts to recreate. Emotionally engaging, heavily textured, and defined by their typically fragmented style, altopalo’s second album is the rich affirmation of their status as one of the most original bands working today.
Finding a balance between the innovative acoustic sounds of Lewis Del Mar and the emotive vocal hooks of Brockhampton, 'farawayfromeveryoneyouknow' occupies a unique position in today’s musical landscape. No track on the 46 minute album encapsulates this better than opener, ‘amiam’, in which the song’s delicate harmonies and spliced samples are regularly interrupted by destroyed drum sounds.
It isn’t until five tracks in with ‘honey’ that the album truly comes alive, however. This ardently raw track opens as a shoegaze love song made electronica. You spend so much time trying to keep an eye on the off-kilter melody and vocal line that they lodge themselves firmly in your mind. The soaring synths of the chorus, however, propel ‘honey’ beyond altopalo’s trademark peaceful ambience and into a realm of direct emotional engagement. “Never said love and then I did / never saw colour then you dropped in” lead singer Rahm Silverglade croons on the pre-chorus laden with suspense.
Waiting over eleven minutes to reach a point of direct connection, however, is my only hang-up. 'Farawayfromeveryoneyouknow' is almost conceptual in its reflection of the multitude states of mental health, but it drifts somewhat in its journey there.
This is, nonetheless, part-and-parcel of what the Semedi Records signees have set out to achieve with this work. Recorded at the backend of 2018 in a shuttered house on the edges of a frozen lake in Indiana, altopalo have incorporated the varying shades of light and dark of their surroundings in an album that is equally about transition as it is the acceptance of such.
At no better place is this seen than in ‘lub ii’ and ‘letdown.’ While the two tracks reflect themes of rootlessness and anxiety in their lyrics, the musical arc from desolate guitar sounds in to enticing chords that slide into view like the swipe of a sword give a sense of underlying acceptance.
Altopalo have come a long way even in the two years since the gentle introspection of debut album, 'frozenthere'. Following on from supporting tours with the likes of Metronomy and Com Truise, the NYC quartet have refined what was already a unique style into a a sound that is truly adventurous.
From tracks like the enigmatic ‘party song (lalalala)’ that offers lyrics of inner-strength, to the tear- jerking ‘Headlock’ that is bursting at the seams with pent-up angst, altopalo have given us an album full of depth and energy. Crafted with care and intention, 'farawayfromeveryoneyouknow' navigates you through a maze of self-confusion to a place of acceptance and ownership.
7/10
Words: Ben Miles
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