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Post by skuldchan on May 22, 2020 3:01:50 GMT -5
Oh wow, A Bloody Morning was utterly breathtaking. What a fantastic emotional crescendo for the album. And then I started tearing up at Fire-Mare at the harmonies and counterpoint, and having listened to the Reeperbahn version before, I did not expect that.
(I wonder if A Bloody Morning was the song that Owen was having trouble with earlier in the development of this album? It has turned out stunning.)
I feel like Owen's hit me into the stratosphere. đ
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Post by jules on May 22, 2020 3:03:29 GMT -5
.. and I hope youâve all watched the official video for A Bloody Morningâ.. by now youtu.be/L_Tvi4v_j0M
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eamas
Pretty Girl
Posts: 73
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Post by eamas on May 22, 2020 4:09:06 GMT -5
HEY, WOW, I HADN'T, but 1. probably my fave Owen video ever, and 2. it's literally what I was trying to get at in my post LOL that feel when validation (edit: I would have more to say about this video-- it made me tear up again when the dancing became joyful. but I said my thoughts, so I think I need not say more. simply glad I wasn't off base with my typical overanalysis of musical cues)
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Post by Carlo on May 22, 2020 4:32:43 GMT -5
God I can't get over how beautiful this is
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Post by tangowhiskeyman on May 22, 2020 9:29:22 GMT -5
The darkness of the beginning of the album took me by surprise (though I'm not sure why it was a surprise): the subtle off-ness of just a few chords produced such an unnerving feeling, similar to how the album cover art looks. Then when he said "godkiller's alive," I felt like so much came into focus... like, through so much suffering, there's Lewis; and through everything, here's me, alive and listening. Anyone else feel me?? That line REALLY hit me hard. I really felt like that when I heard some of the songs for the first time at a concert in Torono, many moons ago. I felt like I was standing there in the audience, after doing a fair bit of travel to get there, and for a moment I wasn't sure if I honestly liked the music I was hearing. And the excerpt from your post ^ is exactly why. I mean the utter bleakness. Except, of course, the songs, the atmosphere are so utterly compelling. There is a lot of continuity with past work, but also a step into a mood that is very distinct from the previous collections of songs. And so my skepticism was very quickly overcome and the songs wormed their way into my heart... The songs don't unremittingly stick to a single mood, and I think there are a lot of moments that aren't quite suffering within the suffering. "Fire-Mare" for instance, is a destructive song about wishing that things were as they could never be. But, fire is itself cleansing, I think. So, if Lewis does burn his memories, and burn the things that remind him of Owen, he isn't left with nothingness, but with... a new start(?), or at least the closest equivalent to that in a world where you've killed the one thing that was worth living for. And, now that the album is here and I gave it the midnight listen it was due, I am utterly thrilled. But how do I pitch it to people? "Man who killed god is depressed and acts recklessly toward himself and others" ?
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Post by ghzgzdf on May 22, 2020 9:45:36 GMT -5
Owen, oh my gosh. This album.
I have 8000 questions, all of which Iâll enjoy figuring out for mahself but these two I thee pose:
1) Is the final â> a(n intentional) throwback/allusion to The Arctic Circle or am I hearing things?
2) Do you consider In Darkness the âalbum closerâ proper and the two variants bonus material? Itâs kinda like The Soft Bulletin where I donât know exactly when to tell my brain to pump the emotional brakes and process everything.
Spazzy coffee morning. Marry me. Thanks for being good at music.
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Post by tangowhiskeyman on May 22, 2020 10:20:39 GMT -5
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Post by unctious on May 22, 2020 12:32:01 GMT -5
Whether or not it's intended, a fun little thing:
Three of the songs have length 3:54--Lamentations 3:54 in one translation is, "The waters flowed over my head, and I thought I was going to die." Or in another, "water closed over my head; I said, âI am lost.â" And one more, "The waters flowed over my head; I said, âI am cut off!â"
Feels so, so fitting.
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Post by letsplaycroquet on May 22, 2020 12:33:46 GMT -5
listen to Island all the way through without crying challenge
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eamas
Pretty Girl
Posts: 73
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Post by eamas on May 22, 2020 13:54:46 GMT -5
Can we talk about the artist's pick playlist on Spotify called Owen Pallett - Sweet Confusion (2005-2020)? It contains all of his full albums, Julia/Tiberus with Daphni, and Lewis' Dream. I'm not really sure what to make of this but it sure makes it feel like the end of an era. With so much of Island sounding like a dirge, I did get a bit worried this was some sort of endnote. Also, I recognize the reference, but "Sweet Confusion" is a great descriptor of Owen's avant-garde sort of chamber pop.
Regarding the difficulty deliberating whether or not some bits are "likeable": I also understand this. I think that a lot of Owen's work finds what's "beautiful" and then twists or tweaks it, or pushes it a step past what feels comfortable or "right". He'll throw in what iirc he referred to as "black notes" (strangeness a step beyond blue notes.) Ultimately I think this is what makes Owen's work reflect my reality as a queer neurodivergent person + what gives his work such longevity and endless relistenability for me. I was grateful, for example (as ig a throwback lol), that "The Secret Seven" was NOT easily digestible. But sitting with the tracks reveals this tremendous beauty through the dissonance, like you mentioned. It makes me very happy.
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Post by letsplaycroquet on May 22, 2020 14:17:45 GMT -5
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Post by Owen from Final Fantasy on May 22, 2020 14:54:29 GMT -5
Hey guys, thanks so much for the kind words about the album, and the video as well!
It was "A Bloody Morning" that took me a lot of time to finish. There's always a song on every record where the lyrics just don't come together immediately; it was "Soldiers Rock" on the last one and "Lewis/Shirt" on the one before. Unlike the rest of the album, "A Bloody Morning" was entirely tracked and mixed but the lyrics/melody unfinished. I have dozens of recordings of me humming along on my iPhone trying to figure it out over months.
"---> (iv)" is not meant to be a deliberate riff off the end of "Arctic Circle", but it does feature a similar three-point mediant-relationship idea, cool that you picked up on that, I never noticed! I do try and throw in little Easter Eggs where I can but that was a total accident.
"In Darkness" is the album's final scene, and the band-versions of "Paragon" and "Fire-Mare" are the closing credits.
"Sweet Confusion"-- I don't know how Spotify works, I don't use it, but they wanted to do a large playlist and call it The Owen Pallett Collection and I balked at that. I suggested "Sweet Confusion" instead-- it's a line off "The Sea" from 2005: "Gentle listener, this is why I sing: confusion. Sweet confusion, you'll be my only child, my only child." It's a pretty early foreshadowing of similar themes I'd sing about much later and so I thought it was a good choice.
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Post by unctious on May 22, 2020 15:11:03 GMT -5
It sounds like the hardest songs have gone on to become some of the most moving. I wonder whether the extra time spent on each begets its emotional power, or if the need for something powerful leads to them requiring more time. What do you think?
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eamas
Pretty Girl
Posts: 73
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Post by eamas on May 22, 2020 18:08:46 GMT -5
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Post by Forgetful Minor on May 23, 2020 4:16:32 GMT -5
I don't remember why, but "In Conflict" had to grow on me on its release. For "Island", there's a tense, despairing beauty to this album that I've fallen in love with on first listen.
The "A Bloody Morning" video is the first visual I've had into the personal difficulties of the quarantine in other countries (I'm lucky to live where it hasn't been necessary). The line, "Surely some disaster will descend and equalize us" leaves me curious as to when it was written. It would be eerie if it was pre-coronavirus appearance.
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