there are albums that sound like the album cover looks. this is one of them, which is probably confusing to anyone who hasn’t heard it. it’s a complete 180 from an artist who has done so many 180s that it’s impossible to keep track. you don’t need to know anything about lil ugly mane’s past as an influential figure in the memphis rap scene almost 15 years ago, or his dozens of other musical experiments to enjoy this album. it’s a standalone piece of some of the most genre-defying music you can find.
depression is a serious topic to write about. when talking about depressing music, people often bring up the most extreme and clear representations; emo music, black metal, etc. what that music does not capture is the real, lingering feelings many experience daily—the slow disappearance of joy, the fog clouding your mind, the surreal haze day-to-day life becomes.
the music here is strange, psychedelic, cartoonish, brimming with life and joy, which you can’t help but feel is disgustingly, incessantly ironic, almost as to laugh into the face of the listener. anything positive in the lyrical subject matter of the album gets twisted by a depressing undertone. the obvious influence from children’s cartoons gives the listener a sense of clinging onto childhood memories as a coping mechanism for something that once was. the familiar whimsy of childhood innocence somehow turning bleak and colorless.
unlike travis’ earlier work, this isn’t harsh, abrasive, noisy, or defiant. it’s a quiet, weary surrender. the vocals drag lazily, the lyrics are abstract, melancholic, dripping with self-loathing. the instrumentals feel hazy, mournful, held together by melodies you’d swear you know from old cartoon soundtracks. it doesn’t matter now—all you can recall is that things were better back then.
the whole experience is like a vivid fever dream. just as you start to enjoy it too much, the bleak, disillusioned undertones creep in. you wake up.
this is one of the hardest albums to describe and it’s striking how weird and out-there it manages to be. much like this review, it’s all over the place.
still, i see it as one of the truest depictions of depression in art. i sincerely recommend giving it a listen, while hoping you relate to as little of it as possible.
