Music Reviews

… wow.

Alright so… I’m kind of speechless right now. The numbers are running through my head and honestly I’m seriously considering giving this the perfect score. Like… Is this even the same guy who made „From Me To You“?? Because this seriously is on another level, this surpassed all and any expectations I ever could possibly have for this man. I still just have no idea where to even start with this, this album is just too much.

I guess the best way to start is just do you know, just do it – the album opens up with the multi-phased „sorry4dying“, an amazing tone-setter that right off the back sounds like nothing Quadeca made up to that point, the improvement on all fronts is apparent right from the start with the lyrics, the aesthethic and just the overall quality of sound off this song, I really feel this is Quadeca at his most realised yet. And the streak of stellar song doesn’t stop there, right after we are blessed with the song „tell me a joke“ which was actually a single release prior to this album and it’s not surprising to see why – once you get used to the burried sound the song is easily one of the most instantly infectiuous and catchy of the whole album, the chorus gets stuck in my head like at least 3 times a day. It’s also just one of the most cohesive songs on the whole album, the song structure is super unique and unpredictable and it never becomes stale or boring, you’re always just at the edge of your seat thinking about where will the song go next. And if that wasn’t enough the song finnishes off with a rather grand finale, a crescendo if you will, that’s just the absolute cherry on top. The next song „don’t mind me“ has probably one of the weaker tunes of the whole album, however it more then makes up for it with honeslty what is just an even catchier chorus melody than the last song, the „closed eyes and a dream“ is just sung so beautifully I can’t get enough of it. It kinda drags in the middle portion of the song admittedly, however I can honestly look past that with all the other amazing things this song does right, it’s just comparing this one to some of the other songs on the album, this one’s just ever so slightly not as impressive I’d say. Even less so maybe with the next song „picking up hands“ which is perhaps the only song of this album I’m not just super in love with – don’t get me wrong it’s still great and continues the narrative concept really well, but the sound isn’t all that memorable compared to the others and the climax at the end just feels a bit rushed and un-deserved, like there was pretty much no build up leading up that – still a pretty good song, but if I really wanted to speedrun through this album and had to skip a song, this would probably be my pick even with the 8 minute closer. Fortunately this is as „bad“ (which is a joke to say obviously) as this album gets, so it’s really only up from here. Speaking of the next song „born yesterday“ is a prime example of that – this song honestly rules. This is the song that also marks the „banger territory“ as I like to call it on this album, which is basically the entire rest of this thing. Anyways the song just paints such a serene and hauntingly beautiful picture with these atmospheric guitars and glitchy instrumentation, it all feels super other-worldly and kinda off but in a good way. The vocal harmonies on this one are also just genius, can’t get enough of the „ooo“s, again, just the way they are sung clicks with me heavy. After this song we have the only interlude on this album titled “ the memories we lost in translation“, which I gotta say for interlude standarts this is a pretty good one not gonna lie. Then again it’s still an interlude so there is not all that much to talk about, but I definetly think the harp strings and swirling orchestration should just absolutely take your breath away either way. It also just leads perfectly into the next song „house settling“ with DANNY FRICKING BROWN. Yes, you’ve heard that right, the guy that made Atrocity Exhibition is on this track and is rapping in the most hungry way from the perspective of carbon monoxide (I couldn’t make this up if I wanted to) and the best part is that it absolutely solos. Like my man absolutely kills it, Quadeca does really well on the song too, but once Danny comes on he honestly absolutely steals the show, who are we kidding. The verse also just goes on and on and on, he just never stops dropping these weird but strangely fitting bars, like there is just something really unsettling (get it) with this whole song and I think Danny has probably the most merit in this. So yeah, this is a pretty good one if I do say so myself and it only gets better from here with the next song „knots“ which is a song I was probably the most conflicted on my first listen, mostly because I just didn’t expect this extremely experimental grungy harsh Death Grips-esk thing from Quadeca and even if I did nobody could have prepared me for how extremely well he would pull it off – like this might just be my favorite song from this entire album now. It definetly takes a while to get used to, but once you do oh boy this song just keeps on giving each and every time. It’s probably the least accessible song from this entire album but with that also the most experimental and boundary-pushing, like even if you don’t like it (which like how) you gotta at least respecet Quadeca for just making this one, like this just shows his artistic evolution. Anyways after this raging banger comes the 7 minute long behemoth of a song „fantasyworld“ which is probably the album’s emotional opus, the build up throughout the song doesn’t get tiring for one second and once everything finally crashes down on you, you are instantly just transported into a different dimension (a fantasyworld if you will). I’m getting tired of just repeating myself over and over again but yeah, another pretty good one, honestly no words can’t really do these song justice. Speaking of these words don’t do you justice the next, and also second to last song, „fractions of infinity“ is essentially the calm after the storm. The mezmerizing keys with the haunting atmosphere of everything is really unnerving but also weirdly comforting and it all manages to not be cheezy or tacky throughout this whole album mind you. This song also feature and I kid you not the Sunday Service Choir, like how does one even get that on a song?? But yeah, just for that this song is a must listen, the repeated mantra „these words don’t do you justice“ (now the transition finally makes sense) is honestly just a complete tearjerker, I cry to this song like 90% of the times I listen to it and I ain’t even ashamed to admit it. And finally the album closes up and ties everything nicely together with the last song „cassini’s division“ which is this spoken word piece with really gorgeous instrumentation that I think fits perfectly right here at the end of the album, it just puts a nice little morbid bow on everything. Once that’s over the song in the last few minutes fades out into this buzzing mess that eventually just stops which was a really nice touch.

And there you have it folks, my album of the year contenders made by a youtuber, never in a milion years though I’d say that but here we are – however don’t get it twisted, this thing truly is a masterpiece in the purest sense of the word and I just can’t wait to see where Quadeca goes from here, because in my eyes I think there is still a chance he might top this one of someday in the future – either way, go stream this thing, bye.

-favorite tracks: all of them lmao

-least favorite tracks: picking up hands (if i had to PICK one get it)

Strong 9/10