A Deepening and Honest Release from The Victim

A new album release from The Victim brings out a lush combination of classic, vintage, indie, and pop-rock and take those elements in regards to soundscape and texture, to heart while also bringing in some roots songwriting approaches that bring genres like folk or indie folk to mind, but the whole thing has this beautifully cinematic backdrop to it with descriptive and detailed lyrics at times that either let you paint a picture in your head, or let out loads of feeling and inner thought for you to drink in.

These are some of my favorite attributes from the Heartaches and Lows album.

This is a record that takes you on a number of musical journeys and is not built with any walls around it, so that there is a certain kind of freedom to its sound, but also its messaging.

The song serves almost like chapters in the artist's life and are connected in that sense as well, making you want to listen through the entire album as if you were reading a book and don't want to skip out on any chapters.

This is the kind of consistency that the record boasts and how it keeps you there. There are stories that are being told, and they're being told from a personal perspective, so you're getting certain kinds of imagery and a lot of emotional backdrop to roll with.

I certainly enjoy some of the tracks that give you that sort of mid-80s classic rock style soundscapes like "My Sweetheart" which serves up some robust guitar tones that come through a bit colorful with a little bit of chorus effect on them giving you that classic vibe and you also get the same kind of energy and aesthetic from the vocals.

It's tracks like this that make me think of artists like Tom Petty as a heavy influence on this artist.

Other tracks like "My Kind of Love" give you that expansive underbelly, and these are the ones that feel much more cinematic as they have a depth to them that lets you fall into it and get engulfed by it all.

So, different elements and attributes to this record show face, and when I say get engulfed, I mean that in the best ways possible.

As I mentioned earlier, it's almost like reading a book or watching a good film. You get soaked up in what's going on and the character that's delivered throughout this record, but the music sets these kinds of moods as well, and there are plenty of ups and downs along the way, which is, of course, part of why the title is what it is.

This was a beautiful record where there was a lot of attention to the details in terms of the lyrics, but also how the sounds were shaped.

I love the element of looseness in the performances on the guitars and how the drumming added this kind of lively push to a lot of the tracks, bringing up the drive a tiny bit but not over the top.

A lot of these elements were thought of when creating the record, but above all, again, it's that personality that's attached to everything that you get wrapped up in.

It's a very layered record, and each song takes you in a little bit of a different direction, but don't get me wrong, there are plenty of pop-rock elements to this, indie-rock songwriting styles, and spirited performances.

I definitely feel like this was a personal record for the artist and that it was maybe even a little cathartic for him to write and release.

I think it takes a lot to create a record and let out that much in a thought because it's quite vulnerable.

Not everyone can do that, but when you listen to certain tracks, you can end up really connecting with them as well.

The Victim consists of just one man, songwriter Kenneth Nefling.

You can hear his honesty in the songs, making them so authentic that you just want to stay wrapped up in them. You want to keep swimming through the atmosphere that he creates, whether it be upswing and positive, spirited and colorful, or cinematic and vast, a little bit Sullen or sad.

Either way, you're going for these musical journeys with him, I think that's the important thing.

After everything I've written here, I'm sure you can understand that listening to the entire record is an absolute must.

I would not just pick a few songs at random and check them out. I would go from beginning to end, come all the way through, and just be in the moment with the songs.

Certain kinds of records are meant to be heard this way, and this is surely one of them.

Take a deep dive into this one and remember where you heard it first.

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