2024 Album Roundup
So this year I decided to be more intentional. I started a list of every 2024 album I listened to, asking friends and family to send me any they came across. Overall I listened to over 120 new albums this year, and in doing so I have found so many albums that I think will stay with me for years to come, if not my whole life.
For the body and blood of this roundup, I have decided against numerical rankings. In almost every case comparing my favorite albums this year has been apples and oranges, so this piece will be more of a group of highlights of this year. The one exception is the last album, which is my pick for 2024 Album of the Year.
So many albums I listened to this year absolutely blew me away, far too many to write full pieces on all of them, so I've picked ones that I haven't heard much talk about (and also to save the world from another white person’s opinion on Tyler, the Creator). To narrow it down further I’m gonna only write about albums I truly loved. I am a hater at heart, and as much as I would love to write a full length piece on why I think BRAT is not a good album, I also watched Ratatouille at a young age and Anton Ego’s speech from the end is burned into my brain. But don’t worry, if you want my negative opinions, or just to know if I listened to your favorite album of the year, I will eventually post a list of every album I listened to, ranked categorically and with an abridged review. Just gimmie a bit longer to finish it lol
Note: Process
There are three main categories I am looking at when listening to an album: vision, cohesion, and execution. These are not necessarily separate categories and have a lot of overlap, but I'm going to zero in on these three things to explain what's going through my head as I listen.
>Vision
This one is the most simple and also the hardest to describe. Vision is an album’s concept, the reason for its existence. Why make this album? Is it to tell a story? Is it to experiment with genres? Is it just to have fun? Looking at this category mainly boils down to “is there any vision at all?” I think an artist saying “I made this because it's fun to make” is as good of a vision as any. I try to withhold a lot of judgment for this section because even a vision or concept I have no interest in can, if communicated well through the other two categories, be incredibly compelling.
>Cohesion
Here I am looking at how the album functions as an artistic medium. An album is the modern day equivalent of the symphony and I think should be treated as such. I'm looking a lot at if the tracks flow into each other here. If an album feels more like a playlist of songs that could be shuffled without affecting the listening experience I think it's a failure on the artist’s part to do the format justice. There are of course exceptions to this, like say in the concept of a mixtape, where the vision indicates that this is going to be an assorted handful of bangers. At that point I mostly focus on pulling the stick out of my ass and instead looking at the tracks themselves. Do most if not all of these songs feel like they came from the same album? Is the writing and production consistent?
>Execution
This one gets the most technical so I should preface this by disclosing how I'm physically listening to these albums. I don't have an expensive sound system or any interest in .flac files, I listen usually on the subway on my way to or from work, on spotify. For headphones I use in-ear monitors, the CCA CRA+ (they're like $25 and the sound quality is really good I highly recommend). I have also slightly boosted the high and low end frequencies using Spotify's native EQ. That being said, if production stands out to me, I often check other listening options to see if it’s a me problem (usually my roommate’s bluetooth speakers and my wife’s airpods).
Now that that's over with, execution is a technical evaluation of an album. Here I'm looking mostly at production and instrumentation. How does the album actually sound? How do the instruments sound? Is there notable skill in the hands (or lungs) of those playing the instrument? In most cases, if you don't notice the production, that's good production. But the mixing of an album is an instrument like any other and should be treated as such. I should add that I’m not necessarily looking for “good” in the traditional sense. Production and instrumentation can be noisy, messy, or crunchy, but if that is an intentional choice in line with the artist’s vision, and fits the cohesion of the album, that can be something that makes the album really step ahead of its contemporaries.
Where’s Connie -
Rosie Knows
A soft and intimate folk gem
Tracks 8
Runtime 25 mins
Favorite Tracks Mile High, Where Did She Go, Swan Song
If you enjoy this album check out Ellie MacPhee’s solo EP, Cardinal Creek
Review
I had the pleasure of meeting Ellie MacPhee, one half of folk duo Where’s Connie along with Hannah Blair, in the backyard of one of the stranger Brooklyn house shows I’ve ever been to. I didn’t know whose house it was and I arrived alone. A ticket price was listed on the poster but there was no one collecting any money. Someone was making Brazilian dipping steak and caipirinhas in the backyard.
I went to this house expecting a punk show start to finish. The bands playing that night were Queer Chaos, Ok Cuddle, and Crush Fund, all three some of my favorites of the scene. But before all of them, Ellie MacPhee, with a soft knowing smile and a guitar, backed by a second guitarist and a cellist, looking slightly out of place but comfortable amidst a sea of assorted punk transsexuals . Thanks to the caipirinhas, my memory of that night is a bit hazy, but I very vividly remember sitting in a group on the floor of what would soon be a mosh pit, listening to some of the most beautiful folk music I had heard in a long time.
With two voices and an acoustic guitar, Where’s Connie has condensed that intimacy, that combined togetherness and loneliness of campfire songs to a 25 minute experience I can’t stop coming back to. You can hear them laugh, breathe, and shift in their seats, the soft warmth of fingerpicked acoustic strings, even the soft click of a mouth opening to sing.
If I was asked to break this album down on a purely technical basis I would have plenty to talk about. The lyric writing is beautiful. Stories of feeling lost in life and in love that are direct and use metaphor very sparingly, they are matter of fact and utterly devastating.
Their voices themselves compliment each other wonderfully as well. Hannah Blair’s voice is light and airy like something in between a flute and a breeze through tall grass, while Ellie MacPhee’s is crisp, clear, and conversational like cool water or an old friends laugh.
I could go on and on about how much I love every single piece of this album, but I think the best way I can describe how this album feels to me is with an old tumblr relic from user @vampireghostlawyer
“When you die, you walk into the cold unknown hand in hand with a girl you met once when you were five in a hotel pool and her hand is warm.”
wishlane -
Nobody’s Listening!
A masterclass in harmony and synth design
Tracks 11
Runtime 59 mins
Favorite Tracks 27 degrees, Nosebleed, Godspeed
Review
People love to split hairs over genres and about what is not hyperpop and is, actually, glitch pop or glitch core or any of the other millions of offshoots. But hyperpop to me is recognized better by feeling. It’s a painting so full of color that the rest of the world looks greyscale, candy so sweet and flavorful everything else tastes like dust.
Few albums I’ve heard this year have better embodied this than wishlane’s newest album. Every track on this album is so full of layers and layers, beautifully commanding vocal harmony and some of the most delicious and full synth tones I’ve heard in a long time. Wishlane’s ear for composition and ability to translate that into production that at all time bursts with texture. It’s an album that feels uncomfortable to pause, not just because I don’t want to stop listening once I start, but because everything else in the outside world sounds flat and bland in comparison and the contrast is too much to bear.
One of the most amazing parts of this album is the contrasts. This album has an incredibly wide range sonically, winding gentle guitar and spacious piano riffs in with those chilling synth crescendos and bass heavy beats, and somehow making the quiet minimal parts sound just as full.
Take the piano intro of “sink or swim” for example. Tucked in behind that piano riff is the green hiss of breeze through a forest, going almost unnoticed until you pause the song and realize how uncomfortable the world feels without it. Even the piano itself is full of so much texture. That slightly muffled sound and swelling reverb tails are both beautiful production choices and so brilliantly executed, and if you listen close you can even hear the slight thunk of each piano key being pressed.
I also want to take a moment to highlight this album’s composition as a whole. I heard albums this year that had some great individual tracks, but when listening to the album I had to check multiple times to make sure I hadn’t hit shuffle by accident because the flow and composition was so bad (it’s BRAT I’m talking about BRAT). But the transitions on Nobody’s Listening! are so clean and consistent it reminds me why I started listening to albums in the first place. Wishlane sets such a high bar with the explosive energy of the transition from “Catch me if you can” to “27 degrees” and, even through the more delicate parts of this record, never once loses electricity.
Tracey Brakes -
My Twee Monsters
Transgender women have invented sounds you can taste
Tracks 9
Runtime 30 mins
Favorite Tracks orphan source, endorphin heist, behave hollow automaton
Review
In my review for Nobody’s Listening by wishlane I wrote a bit about my views on hyperpop and introduced that album as a sort of hyperpop pick of the year. I stand by every ounce of praise I heaped onto that album, but to be fully transparent, I wrote that before I had heard this album, and I would like to place this album right next to wishlane’s for my two top spots in hyperpop. These albums juxtapose eachother perfectly and given the insanely wide range hyperpop has a genre it’s only fair to show that.
As much as nobody’s listening makes use of the synth heavy intensity typical of hyperpop, it approaches the genre from more of the pop side, with emphasis on vocals and usually slower tempos.
Tracey breaks however, comes in hot from the hyper side of things. With influence from skrillex era dubstep and many flavors of EDM, Tracey delivers some of the most insanely textured sound design I have heard ever, let alone this year. This album is already mixed loud and every moment just made me want to turn it even louder. My earbuds were outputting sounds I didn’t even know were possible and I swear to god I could taste some of them. Some of the drops hit and I felt my sinuses clear.
But even approaching from and focusing on the more hyper end of hyperpop, Tracey absolutely did not forget about the vocals. There are very consistent themes of the societal concept of a monster and how discomfort with your own body leads to makes you feel closer to thing rather than human. Devoting so much time and energy into trying to “become human” while holding a sort of learned hatred for humanity for alienating you. One of my personal favorites is the start of the chorus of "Behave, Hollow Automaton".
My headache's еating all my words again
You got a problem, it must be my fault
Sorry for being vain, you need your spacе
There's ringing in my ears and screeches in the dark
It's a beautiful thematic finale to the album, and especially poignant with the second line interpolating "spoiled little brat" by Underscores.
At the same time Tracey also acknowledges that these lyrics will take a while to sink in due to all of these songs being incredibly danceable (and making a nod to the silliness usually present in dubstep) with more comedic lyrics like “tomorrow when I wake up, I better be under six feet, or six feet under”.
Overall with this album Tracey Breaks delivers an expertly crafted adrenaline rush, a lovingly made designer amphetamine that leaves you thinking about your trip for long long after it’s over. On any level you chose to engage with this album, just to dance, analyzing production techniques, even vocally, this is a magnificent work of art.
Foxing -
Foxing
A massive sounding post-rock powerhouse.
Tracks 13
Runtime 56 mins
Favorite Tracks Hell 99, Greyhound, Barking, Gratitude
Review
A band self-tilting their first album is common practice. It is an introduction with hands outstretched and head held high saying “hello nice to meet you this is who we are.” But a band self-tilting their fifth album declares something else entirely. It means they found something and it has made them into something new.
In the case of Foxing, a group known for softer chamber emo that developed into art pop in the footsteps of Paramore and so many other emo bands, they make this change very clear from the first song.
Secret history, the album’s introduction, starts soft. But not the softness of their first album. This is bent, like the still running radio of a long abandoned house, a haunting style reminiscent of Hospice by The Antlers. A brief silence and the album explodes, bursting wide open with distorted guitars, a blastbeat, and a scream far more guttural, raw, and almost primal, violently shifting this album into something totally different. An entirely new sound, still named Foxing.
If I had to point to one single thing that made this album stand out to me it would be those vocals, that raw primal almost breaking sound, combined with a truly stunning range and versatility. The obvious showcase of this is on Hell 99, a raw screaming adrenaline rush of anguish. This song really showed how much vocalist Connor Murphy’s singing is to his screaming. He weaves back and forth between them with such beautiful control, and the breath and power he is able to put into his voice is borderline addicting to listen to.
The moment that remains my favorite is on Gratitude. It feels almost like this song was designed to show every inch of Murphy’s range; starting soft over an almost skeletal verse, sprinkling in that beautiful vocal fry, building and building so that when the synth kicks in at the chorus he just fully releases, holding the note with such force I remember I had to sit down the first time I heard it. I thrive on comparisons but the only singer I could think of that even gets close is Bono of U2 fame, and even he doesn't get close to the raw power Murphy exhibits.
The emphasis on vocals also draws attention to how good the lyric writing is. The themes of self-devouring pain, struggle with mental health, grief, and regret match this album’s vocal style so well, a combination that is absolutely soul rending on lines like “I can feel the age in my voice” from Barking.
This album does jump around a bit in terms of energy. There is a stark difference between Hell 99 and Greyhound for example. But it's all tied together by this album’s overall sound, that sound being absolutely massive. Every instrument reverberates and echoes and sustains in a way that fully surrounded me, even through headphones.
This album declares so much with its full chest and every single step of the way Foxing delivers, blowing out the walls of whatever room you’re in to cathedral proportions. I wasn't much of a Foxing fan in the past, but if this new sound, quality, and sheer raw power is something I can expect more of in the future, I will be paying very close attention.
Ravyn Lenae -
Bird’s Eye
Music to love to
Tracks 11
Runtime 35 mins
Favorite Tracks Genius, Dream Girl, Love Me Not, Pilot
Review
R&B singer Ravyn Lenae to me is like that one person in your friend group who you never really hang out with one on one but you know that any group event is going so much more fun if she’s there. She’s been on my radar since around 2019 when I first heard “Free Room” a song from her 2016 EP and it very quickly became a favorite. Since then I have noticed her popping up on projects by some of my all time favorite artists, Smino, Saba, Noname, JID, Mick Jenkins, her “appears on” section in Spotify is just amazing album after amazing album. She released her first solo album in 2022 but I’ll admit I didn’t ever get around to listening to it. When I heard she was releasing another one this year I made sure not to miss it. And oh my god am I glad I didn’t.
This is easily the most sensual and romantic album I have heard all year, possibly ever. It’s smooth as silk sheets and soft as a kiss goodnight.
Instrumentally the stars of the show are the drums and the bass. There is an insane amount of variety in the drum sounds on this albums. From the analog kit in “Genius” that has just a sprinkle of old school graininess to emulate the beat in Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”, to the more digital sounding hi-hat work in “love is blind”, every beat is perfectly manicured and tailored to each song. It gives the album a very consistent groove while using that variety as a sort of advent calendar, each track having its own little delicious surprise.
And speaking of groove, the bass is positively mouthwatering on this album. It’s all encompassing without being all consuming, both the background that holds everything up and a foreground groove that perfectly foils Lenae’s warmly intimate head-voice half whisper style of singing.
Her vocals are also mixed to sound incredibly close, every verse a thread of soft words from a lover in your arms. And that is where Bird’s Eye is most comfortable. Bird’s eye is music to cook dinner to as the person you want to spend the rest of your life with sets the table.
Geordie Greep -
The New Sound
The beautiful music of a wild-eyed madman
Tracks 11
Runtime 1hr 2 mins
Favorite Tracks Blues, Terra, Holy Holy, Motorbike
If you enjoy this album check out Geordie’s other band, Black MIDI
Review
I know I said I would avoid spending too much time talking about albums that have already gotten a lot of recognition, but I am, to put it simply, OBSESSED with this album.
Geordie Greep, best known for being part of Black MIDI, a band whose style I can only describe as Hell Jazz, has delicately crafted influence from his time in Black MIDI, Steely Dan, Masayoshi Takanaka, Latin Rock greats like Santana, and a flair reminiscent of musical theater, into an album so musically cohesive. This album is moving in every sense of the word. Every time I listen I am sent everywhere from laughter to tears, one minute I am filled with the urge to dance and be twirled and the next the urge to pick a direction, start sprinting, and never stop. It’s jazzy and experimental but impossibly catchy.
As expected with an album anywhere in the vicinity of Black MIDI, the instrumentation is spotless. Greep’s lighting fast precision on the guitar is as usual unshakable, but for me it’s everything else that shines brightest. Greep used over 30 session musicians, mostly local musicians from Argentina and Brazil and the album is lush with their work. The color and depth added by the layers and layers of strings, percussion gives this album such an undeniable sauce, an undeniable groove and danceablility. No matter how much I listen I always notice new layers.
But I would be sorely misrepresenting this album if I said that anything other than the vocals was the true star of the show. This album is about men at their ugliest, loneliest, and most self aggrandizing, tells beautifully written vignette after beautifully written vignette of man’s darkest and often least marketable moments. “Terra” shows an artist using the world’s suffering as decoration for his own “punctured bleeding heart”. “Holy, Holy”, reveals an expert womanizer as a fraud who is paying the woman he is “seducing”. Over that masterful instrumentation, Greep paints rotten tapestries one after the other of men killing, lying, and stealing in the name of love or lack thereof.
And the delivery of those lyrics is easily my favorite vocal performance of the year. I think that vocal skill has always been there in Black MIDI’s music, but their style always felt like it was more focused on the instruments. Greep uses every inch of this new theatricality to show what a unique vocal powerhouse he is. Loud or soft, gentle or strong I would not in a million years be able to pick a better vocalist for this album. And of course flowers upon flowers for guest vocalist on “Motorbike” Seth Evans, his buttery smooth voice is the perfect contrast to Greep’s without any drop in the album’s intensity.
The New Sound is an instant classic, and (despite what my spotify wrapped says) the album I could not stop returning to this year. If I can expect even half this quality from future Geordie Greep albums, you will hear me talking about him much, much more.
Perry Maysun
Yeah all five albums he dropped this year. No that's not a typo he dropped FIVE ALBUMS THIS YEAR, ALL OF THEM HEAT
Naked. | Avoid Second Death | Reverie V | In Yesterday’s Light | Roll With The Punches
Review
For someone who spent most of it fighting cancer, 22 year old rapper Perry Maysun has had an incredible year musically, and I wanna take a page or two to recognize that.
He released five full length albums, all produced and recorded in either his bedroom or a hospital bed. This would be insane even if those albums were just half decent, but each one is an incredibly cohesive project. From Avoid Second Death, a slower poetic introspective concept album grappling with his diagnosis, to the more upbeat Roll With The Punches featuring more sung vocals, Maysun shows himself as a very versatile artist. His production goes everywhere from Lil Ugly Mane, to Smino style jazz inspiration, to a lofi style reminiscent of Atlas or Samsa, to a more synth heavy Flashing Lights by Kanye style.
And speaking of the production, these albums are such a treat to listen to. The mixing is perfect Maysun’s beats float and glide everywhere they need to be. I have heard more “professional” studio mixed albums that don't sound even half as good as these.
Overall my favorite of the bunch is definitely Avoid Second Death. I love a concept album and I love an album with a fun gimmick, so the theme of beginning every song title with “I Am…” was something I really enjoyed. I think it really adds to how consistent and cohesive this album already feels. Beyond this I think this is one of his strongest albums lyrically. The flow and writing are incredibly compelling, and his raw delivery is bursting with emotion and makes his most devastating lyrics hit even harder.
As of October 24th, 2024 I am very pleased to announce that Maysun has beaten cancer, and I am very excited to see what the future brings.
The EP Zone
8485 - Software Gore
There are 4 tracks on this EP, 3 if you don’t count the interlude, but I would be lying if I didn’t say that I put this on here mostly because of the last song, ANTHROPOL. The first 3 tracks are all an extended intro to me. Granted it’s a very good intro. I went on a huge 8485 kick at the start of this year in no small part because of her voice. It’s high and clear in a way that sounds like wind chimes and with auto tune ends up with this AI companion (think Cortana from halo) vibe. But ANTHROPOL oh my god. The production is mouthwatering. This song is addicting from the first 5 seconds and really shows how versatile 8485’s voice is.
Um, Jennifer - The Girl Class EP
To be honest, with a band name that good I would have been pissed off if I didn’t at least like the music of bushwick based indie punk duo Um, Jennifer? But this EP is so much fun. A bit of edge from the punk influences gives it energy while the indie rock influences give it a catchiness that ties it all together. The lyrics are witty and genuinely funny all while being uncompromisingly transgender, never sacrificing anything else to achieve that. It’s music that I am really never not in the mood for. My favorite track is cut me open. How can you not love a fun upbeat song about wanting your lover to erotically cannibalize you?
CPU Buddha - CPU Buddha
I think this year I have heard more mind blowing electronic music than I have in the rest of my life combined, and even among the truly unique albums experiences, CPU Buddha stands out. That digital hardcore mix of breakcore and metal with little touches of vocaloid work adds up to such a cool first release and I’m really excited to see what a full album by this group would look like.
Ugly (UK) - Twice Around the Sun
This is really more of an album in terms of length but it’s listed as an EP so I’m counting it. This EP is so delicately crafted. I’m a sucker for a good vocal harmony and it’s so well written the composition is precise and calculated but never stuffy. It keeps an air of joy and togetherness. It’s prog rock meets folk rock, like fleet foxes but even more of a “ritual in the woods” cult vibe. It feels like nature, like late winter sun, and smells pine and fresh air.
Vylet Pony -
Monarch of Monsters
A whole new beast
Tracks 12
Runtime 1 hr 23 mins
Favorite Tracks PLAY DEAD! PLAY DEAD!, Survivor’s Guilt, The Wallflower Equation, Sludge
Review
I hadn’t heard of ponystep and EDM artist Vylet Pony before seeing this album at #4 of rareyourmusic’s top albums of the year. Seeing forwardly horny furry art as the album cover and a Spotify artist page decorated with her ponysonas, I don’t know what I expected from this album, but it wasn’t this.
Monarch of Monsters is an almost hour and a half long beast of a concept album. Drawing inspiration from prog rock, metal, and with a splash of theatric flair, it comes with an entire companion novella (a summary of this novella and some extra background information about the album is posted for free on the bandcamp page for this album which I highly recommend). It’s a concept album that features Vylet Pony’s OCs but is more so about living with complex trauma and how that affects you and the people around you, and the gods you build to try to escape that headspace.
The overall emotional curve of this album is one of the biggest and most beautifully crafted I’ve seen in a long time. The first half is mainly devoted to bangers, songs that are weird in their own right but definitely more danceable. PLAY DEAD! PLAY DEAD! Shows a killing spree committed by the main character, absorbing more and more magic twisting her into the monster known as wolf, and god is it such a blast to listen to. Full of distorted guitar and these dubstep inspired bass synth wubs it becomes a sort of digital metalcore track, tied together with these multilayered vocals that go from whisper to scream in a heartbeat. Those vocals I think are the main reason for the theatricality this album has. Vylet’s voice is incredibly dynamic and it carries an intensity of emotion that you usually don’t see outside of the theater or movies and it really works in her favor on this album.
The bangers continue on the groovier “Survivor’s Guilt” cooling off slightly for “Vitality Glitch” a more atmospheric synth based track. “The Wallflower Equation”, a 12 minute prog metal track, has this intense pacing and some really insane brass and woodwind instrumentation. I think the crescendo of this song is the moment I really fell in love with this album.
But here the album takes a sharp turn with “Princess Cuckoo”, by far the strangest track on the album. It takes heavy inspiration from Lingua Ignota, with minimal off kilter instrumentation and Vylet delivering one of the best vocal performances of the year with these pain ridden stomach churning wails and sobs. It’s one of those songs that has sent my body into this almost panicked state, a visceral feeling of “I need to get away from this”
I could go on and on about the rest of this album, especially the 20 minute masterpiece that is “sludge”, but I want to leave it as a surprise. This album is truly a one of a kind experience.
This is why I always pay special attention to the art that trans people and furries make, because who else would put this much care into a concept like this? Who else would make an album like this? Who else even could make an album like this?
UBOA -
Impossible Light
A Hypernoise Masterpiece, and my pick for 2024 Album of the Year
Tracks 9
Runtime 43 mins
Favorite Tracks Endocrine Disruptor, A Puzzle, Impossible Light / Golden Flower
Review
Self describing her style as ‘Hypernoise’, UBOA’s Impossible Light delivers a soul rending mix of doom metal, horror ambience, and harsh noise. This album was deeply terrifying and deeply comforting in a way I haven't experienced before.
Some pieces of the album were familiar. I write this listening to Virgins by Tim Hecker and I can't help but notice similarities in technique, especially the use of analog instruments and field recordings to both ground the composition and capture sounds that are more naturally out of phase and out of sync. But that grounding that UBOA provides is what I found the most unsettling.
Ask me to name a terrifying album and I will probably answer either You Won’t Get What You Want by Daughters, or SINNER GET READY by Lingua Ignota. Both are terrifying for very external reasons, YWGWYW for its constant onslaught of sheer fucking evil (especially given the context of the crimes frontman Alexis Marshall committed), and SGR for its raw description of grief, pain, and rage. Both activate a sort of fight or flight response, a need to protect myself.
Impossible Light however, lives under your skin. There is a sort of point of activation this album has, in the middle of track 3, A Puzzle, on the singular spoken line “pull yourself open and undo the knots of your bowels” followed by an explosion of noise. Here I realized two things.
The truly cosmic fear this album is able to invoke.
Everything to fear already lives inside me.
This is not something you can run from. This is an existential fear of the body, a uniquely trans but distinctly human horror. This album is for everyone who has ever looked in the mirror and not recognized the person looking back, everyone who has stripped themselves bare only to realize they are looking at a corpse. It is, in 43 minutes, the thousand deaths of a thousand selves.
To me this album is lying in bed and realizing there is nothing else I can do, the boy’s body I was born in hasn’t been sick, it's been rotting. The last 20 years of caretaking, bandaging, stitching, have been for nothing. And from that instant I first smelled decomposing flesh it became all I could focus on.
But the Impossible Light doesn't end there. It delivers the full experience, the full breakdown of realizing you are trans. So it can't end without the impossible light itself, the realization that, although it is you alone who has to do the shaping, you can build a new body. Your current body is dead but your spirit is alive YOU are alive. The last track of the album begins
don’t give up
before the war is lost
there is still
light
at the end
of infinity
you just need to
get up and
run
I knew from the end of my first listen of this album that nothing would beat it for my pick of number one Album of the Year. Never has an album so thoroughly buried itself under my skin and engraved itself on my bones. UBOA’s Impossible Light is a masterpiece, it is a perfect album, and an instant all-time favorite, a title I expect it to hold for a very long time.