Album Review: Imaginary People Bring “October Alice” For Catharsis
In life, there are moments that standout like snapshots. They are the instances that, for some reason, change us, and of which we can say we were never the same after them. Imaginary People have created a post-punk debut that approaches the more tragic “snapshots” of our life’s history to make it a picture/memory we can look at with less pain and, maybe, dance to. If music is cathartic than October Alice is a record of catharsis.
Admittedly, this album is not one for standout singles or personal faves. Even the most likable tracks like “Spectacles” and “Human Race” seem too linked to the tracks that precede and follow them. Altogether, October Alice feels like you are looking at life through a telescope. As the most beautiful and horrible moments pass through this magnified lens, you want to capture only the good, but, every-time you do, a little bit of the bad seeps in. No matter how hard you try to not remember the “Fresh Kill” , the groovy guitar melody that played in your mind when you were at your darkest self begins to trickle in. Moreover, as you “Whisper To Stop” , the nagging mental push to stop making a mess out of your life is derailed by a bassline that tracks like a train. What I love about this album is that it describes two aspects to the tragedies of our life and the way we remember them. First, it approaches the inability we have to forget the bad as in songs, “Seven Day”, and also our desire not to do so, “Mr.Hesitance”, because they oddly define us. Sure, we would like to look back on our life and only see good, but, inadvertently, Imaginary People uses October Alice as a question; If life is perspective, is it possible to look at the darkest moments of our life with enlightenment?
From the ones we loved that were not our brightest relationships, “Magdalena” or the fears that drew us back “Half Step”, no matter what, they taught us something about ourselves, or, at least, that was my conclusion after hearing THE VOICE of Dylan Von Wagner. This man has vocals that sound like a soul peering through a dark hole. It has a weightiness that makes him appear tied down by pain, which is perfect for an album approaching how we, as human beings, approach our hurt. His vibrato echoes like a whisper in a church; you search for what has randomly purveyed the silence of your holiness, which, in essence, is what tragedy does. “The bad” breaks up “our good” like a pack jagged rocks in a flowing stream; our life could be fully fluid and beautiful if only those rocks of pain were not there. Yet, as you hear reverb-laden guitars that emanate anguish, smoldering drum-rolls that strike up reflection, and gothic keys and bass that stir hints of morbidity, your realize October Alice is a stunning record to accept that in this world, you will suffer, but as well as you absorb pain, why can’t you absorb joy? For More Information On Imaginary People And To Buy October Alice On April 28 Click Here.
