Drowse - Light Mirror (Album Review)

 

Drowse - Light Mirror

(2019)

My copy: 2019 limited press on milky clear/silver split vinyl by Flenser Records.

Light Mirror is the second full-length on the Flenser label from multi-talented artist Kyle Barnes. Specializing in atmospheric, meticulous explorations of mental health and emotional ambiguity, Barnes delivers a deeply-layered fog of slowcore melodies with Light Mirror.

Dozing piano flickers in the twilight shade of “Imposter Syndrome,” with glitching lo-fi noise fluttering gently for good measure. “Between Fence Posts” delves directly into the styles of trail blazers such as Low or Codeine through melancholy guitar arpeggios that topple over with delay. There is a faint shoegaze tendency in some of the early sound baths but heavier distortion is avoided until later in the record. The album is short on low-end but makes up for this by consistently layering in lush walls of instrumentation or effects, which are elegantly mixed as well. 

“Shower Pt. 2” turns up the heat with growling guitar chords while bright counter-melodies hang with cathartic, whispered vocals. The lack of bass sounds are more apparent here, but Barnes’s knack for composition helps distract with emotional string arrangements and falsetto vocal harmonies. The album also touches on the modern indie-folk influence held by Phil Evlerum with acoustic guitar performances that are backed by jangled collections of organic percussion. Background noise becomes an integral aspect of “Bipolar 1,” maintaining a personal and reflective mood with acoustic guitar. A more subtle drum machine is subbed in at times to maintain a humble ambiance, and “Bipolar 1” eventually climaxes with a wash of EQ effects.

Dashes of post-punk surface in the second half of “Physical World” with woozy keys running through scales as tension mounts. Synth drones carry into “A Song I Made In 2001 With My Friend Who Is Now Dead” where a spoken sample is chopped and screwed rhymically with tonally uncanny keyboards. “Arrow” is sleepy guitar tinkering with piano and quiet vocals, playing wistful chords not unlike something that might appear on a Carissa’s Wierd record. More chopped samples are woven into the foundation of “Oslo” where burning tremolo imbues urgency. Fortunately, Barnes displays masterful control of the lo-fi styles, as without such control, these simple formulas would feel empty and lifeless. 

“Internal World” builds into a warm bed of lulling guitar and syncopation with perfectly recorded mallet instrumentation. After marching through moodier bits of slowcore, “Betty” eases the album’s gloomy grip slightly to deliver a head-bobbing shoegaze groove that features the catchiest melodies of the effort. Light Mirror concludes with the existential ambient arrangement “Don’t Scratch The Wound.”

Drowse is a project that fits perfectly between the emotional, natural experimentation of independent folk and the tonal density and complexity of slow-shifting dream pop. The vocal writing is largely too whispered and obscure to make a long-term impression, but there are obvious makings of a talented composer. With Light Mirror, Barnes conjures an intimately specific vibe - ghostly and surreal, but cut with grace and serenity, as his music floats along like a dejected apparition.