Album Review: Chad VanGaalen Turns Discomfort Into A Sci-Fi Opera

Leave it to Sub-Pop to contain the artists that challenge themselves and music taste. Chad VanGaalen’s Light Information is his 6th album with Sub-Pop, and it is a sci-fi opera for all of us who have felt “over” life. Cosmic sounds warp like bandwidth entering into your computerized mind to wake you up to how bored you are. This may not sound like the premise for an epic travel through sound, but VanGaalen could do no less.

From its beginning, VanGaalen’s record plays like a rocket through future worlds that oddly share the same discomforts of present humanity. As a history buff/ spiritual seeker, I have to admit that it is saddening to see humanity have the same issues, yet comforting to know that many share the same reaction of disappointment. For VanGaalen tracks like “Mind Hijacker’s Curse”,”Host Body”, and “Static Shape” play like science picture shows. Each instrumental is purposefully strained and stressed to sound like a horrifying beauty like an exploding star; sure it is a show to watch, but it still does not take away that a star is gone. VanGaalen’s ability to make human discontent seem like a ride across galaxies such as, in “Broken Bell” and “Old Heads”, shows why he is on his SIXTH album with the acclaimed label. He makes art out of discomfort, and an imaginative, welcoming sonic journey out of feeling stale.

Sonically, VanGaalen plays like an anxious guru; his wisdom is fighting to overcome tension. The result is a record that is firmed in its grovels and guides in what seems to be a journey across the universe. With a tapestry of zooming synths, layering keys, and magnifying basslines, VanGaalens Light Information is not to be taken lightly when released on September 8. Click Here For More Information.