Maryland experimental pop visionary Gabriel Walsh, identified below his longtime moniker The Earthly Frames, has at all times thrived within the area between construction and abstraction. With Vainness Urgent, the violet entry in his bold Rainbow Desk collection, Walsh takes his boldest step but, crafting a report that’s each inviting and difficult, shimmering with hooks but rooted in stressed experimentation.
Throughout the album’s layered soundscapes, Walsh explores what he calls “the double-edged nature of solipsism, the strain between despair and aggrandizement.” It’s a becoming theme for a challenge that continually walks the road between introspection and spectacle, darkness and lightweight. Mastered by Timothy Stollenwerk, the report balances artificial textures with natural instrumentation, making a sonic world that feels as alive as it’s otherworldly.
The singles alone trace on the report’s scope. “Gallows Ladies” (that includes Busayo Oninla) is retro futuristic pop at its most daring, pulsing with urgency whereas nodding to Walsh’s experimental roots. “Birthday Impact,” powered by Shirley Kudirka’s ethereal vocals, is lush and immersive, wrapping listeners in layers of sound that really feel each meticulously crafted and emotionally uncooked.
Vocal cameos from Aloysius Fortune, Katherine Koherence, and longtime collaborator Graham Hopkins (on drums) deepen the palette, whereas Walsh himself continues to show that accessibility and innovation don’t must exist in opposition. As a substitute, Vainness Urgent reveals how pop will be expansive, hypnotic, and deeply human.
With Vainness Urgent, The Earthly Frames obtain one thing uncommon: an album that feels each like a fruits and a starting. It’s essentially the most approachable chapter of the Rainbow Desk but, with out sacrificing the experimental spark that has outlined Walsh’s profession. That is violet rendered in sound, mystical, radiant, and completely unforgettable.
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