Album Review: Hibou Looks For “Something Familiar” To Find Joy
As we grow older, we look for things that feel familiar. We tether to trinkets of nostalgia in the same way a baby clasps an adult’s hand as it learns to walk. Eventually, we know we will stand on our own and walk paths where no longer those hands/ trinkets can come with us. Yet, we never stop looking for the familiar as we walk into our unknown futures, and Hibou’s newest record, Something Familiar, understands this concept.
In the three years from his debut, Hibou has had a rough time. Confronting depression, anxiety, and an on going battle with depersonalization, these years have been rough for him to overcome, especially because the world feels like it has also depersonalized. When you feel like you are sinking, it does not help to feel like everyone else is drowning, as well. This could be why tracks like “Fall Into”, “Malison”, and “Opia” murk, muddle, and steam with drums and acoustics that sound like a butterfly breaking through a cocoon. You picture Hibou’s voice like a wing pushing through surrounding, sticking covers to feel free. It is a powerful thought that everyone can relate to: the idea of shedding your issues to soar in your triumphs. The undercurrents of epic-ness to Hibou’s arrangements that oddly explain the “power” of depression.
In some ways, we get down because want to feel up. Yet, it is not a simple “up”, but a sincere desire to be defined as high as the sky! “Amethyst”, “Glamour”, and “Junipero Love” have sparkling melodies that resonate to that desire, and match it with an 80’s style synthwave. Hibou’s voice mists on through like smoke rises to the top, but splashes in Heavenly sounds with an underscore of darkness. Considering he found inspiration in the Black Mirror series, it makes since that no lyric/ sound of joy comes without a challenge. Yet, like anyone who knows sadness, you never give up on happiness. Thus, Something Familiar is like a quick bite into beauty. It is sweet and simple in its impact. For nearly forty minutes, you look back on what has made you happy to look forward and find it again. For More Information On Hibou Click Here.
