Martin Thulin is part of the psychedelic / shoegaze band Exploded View, and his new solo album, Into the Light, is full of psychedelic and dreamy ruminations on death, life, impermanence, and presence.
Opening track “Not Afraid to Die” blends Velvet Underground guitars with 1980s synth wave keys to send you floating into whatever version of the afterlife you prefer – or at least out of your current troubled reality. “Here in My Room” adds some disco horns to create a cool lounge-rock track. The bass on “Amazonian Smoke” is post-punk, the synths are goth, and the drums are industrial. It all works. “Thin White Duchess” is, of course, a play on David Bowie‘s “Thin White Duke,” and Bowie touches are sprinkled throughout the track. I like the way Thulin filters his vocals to the low end when you think they’re going to come in at full volume and then slowly brings them back into the front.
The thick keys on “New Dawn Coming” start off side two of the record, and soft electro-beats slide into the room like a sultry lover. The smoky bass of “Day Out Day In” and Thulin’s echoing vocals bring Peter Murphy to mind, and I love the simple, clear piano compliments throughout it. They’re almost like drops of ice water falling onto you during a humid day.
The guitars on “Upstairs Room” sound like they have strings of taffy as Thulin sings about listening to the radio on a quiet, lonely night – even though he’s with his lover (who is mourning their mother’s death) in the same place. Church organ-like keys usher in “Silence You Forever” while Thulin’s vocals take on a raspy spoken word quality. “Your anger makes you so blind, you can’t see you’re being fooled. And when they finally take it over, you’ll have no voice at all,” he sings / chants. Good heavens, those are some prescient lyrics in 2020, aren’t they? The closer, “Amalgam,” sounds like a film noir score and brings to mind images of rain-coated alleys, shady business deals, femme fatales, and suitcases of money that needs laundered as soon as possible.
It’s a haunting record, a cool record, a smooth record, and an uplifting record. That’s a rare combination in any year.
Keep your mind open.
[Step into the subscription box while you’re here.]
[Thanks to Mr. Thulin!]
