Vivid assurances that Quannnic has no qualms laying himself bare for the world to watch.
I adore the cover of Stepdream. The security of your own bed. The uncertainty of your destiny. The search for greater meaning. All things that, to me, this cover represents. Not to mention the bottle and the doll: two juxtaposed symbols of abuse and innocence. At such a young age, we’d like to believe our parents to be Gods. There’s safety in the knowledge of a guardian angel watching your every move; an uneasiness, too. When that blind devotion is exploited, it festers resentment, and dispassion. It is with this backdrop of mental rot, and decay, that Stepdream takes its stand. Quannnic has found himself at his lowest point of emotional defeat. Even lower than his Frailty-esque debut Kenopsia last year. Fortunately, his musicality hasn’t suffered. In my recent review of Jane Remover’s masterpiece Census Designated, I lauded its tempered, leisurely pacing (at times). The same rhetoric does not apply here. Stepdream is a megalomania-infested, despair-driven, drill to the neck. There is no anesthetic, either.
Quannnic is a bit of a mystery to me. Despite having over a million monthly listeners on Spotify, he is a ghost-like figure on the internet. Perhaps this is because the majority of his fans can be traced to his breakout single, “Life Imitates Life." That’s a shame. On Kenopsia, Quannnic hid himself behind blankets upon blankets of vocal effects and aimless, watery production. I wasn’t too enthusiastic. But while Kenospia attracted a niche audience of ear masochists, I can appreciate the clarity Quannnic has adopted with Stepdream. There is purpose: Stepdream, to me, is a crusade against a passive decline; the final palisade still standing. This is evident from the very beginning. On “Defense," the pacing is sickly and lurching. Yet Quannnic’s vocals are firm and indignant, especially on the second chorus. At the heights of the following track, “South," it’s impossible to ignore how he flaunts his voice multiple octaves above the strife of the instrumentals. Fury suits Quannnic well: He has the singing chops to back it up.
While Kenopsia was analog and digitized, appealing to the young, burgeoning emo/hyperpop community, Stepdream is a step back in time. It has the trappings of the classic alt-rock and shoegaze revival that has preoccupied the charts as of late. Across online forums, Quannnic tends to be looped in with Deftones, particularly with his vocal style. There’s little harm to this. Despite the efforts of dozens of doppelgangers over the decades, White Pony remains inimitable. Either way, Quannnic paves his own trail by integrating glimpses of Appalachian folk, which provides the homey, DIY aesthetic that’s obligated for the genre. On “How To Hold A Knife," the acoustic intro hemorrhages into a blood-soaked injection of violent resistance. Strumming with such urgency that I worry the strings may snap from over-exertion. Meanwhile, “Comatose” and “Jophiel” are pointed spears, thrust viciously into the gut: “I’ll make you work / And you’ll decompose / Failing company / You’ll make a speech / You’ll prove the crowd.” Self-vindicated justice.
With the apparent violence that Quannnic attempts to illustrate, I almost wish there was more savagery. Personally, I want to revel in the pain; not get bogged down by soupy, indiscriminate tracks with little stimulation. Songs such as “Cover” ultimately detract from the album by running amok with no destination in mind. “Bryn Mawr” is out of place and a mood-killer following the emotional gravity of “Ache." Given how strong the first 5 and final 3 tracks are, a mid-session slump is unwarranted. Additionally, the structure and progression needs more intricacy. A-B-A-B formulas only work for so long before a literal wall of noise has zero effect after hearing the same passage for the past three songs. I think “Rummage," featuring former Neutral Milk Hotel member Julian Koster, succeeded at this with merely slight variations. Or the closing track, “How Much Time to Quit," which is just as disconcerting without being unnecessarily flashy. A lot of tracks on Stepdream possess a massive ego. That’s tolerable as long as they’re executed correctly, but the risk is otherwise it’s obnoxious. Either go full bore; or tone it back to a more manageable mouthful.
Next year, Quannnic will be co-headlining along with Jane Remover. That’s an ideal match. Even if I believe the methodology of their recent albums are disparate, they are two sides of the same coin. Both are afflicted with a deep-rooted plague of guilt and regret. Both also fail to suppress their acrimony. In a genre as over-saturated as indie shoegaze, Stepdream does its best to catch the eye of weary travelers. It mostly succeeds. While occasionally Stepdream can seem as though it is built upon pillars of sand, it just as often remains steadfast in its ambition. Whether Quannnic is singing over inviting strumming or buckling carnage, his newfound confidence remains a common denominator. For the first time since Quannnic emerged as a 17 year old amateur two years ago, there is conviction in his handiwork.
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