A new album release from Topiary Creatures brings out a brilliant crossover between a cinematic and vast indie-pop and a pop-rock and pop-punk combination that all comes together with this brimming character that you end up really getting attached to from the start because the lyrics or something that are emotionally driven but coded in different kinds of metaphors at times that give everything a very particular overtime but this is part of why it's so addicting.
The Metaphysical Tech Support Hotline is an album that has plenty of surprises around the corners and always has this sort of honesty that has a different way of reaching out and grabbing you then you might be used to but the whole album even musically also has this sort of outside the box approach to it at times and also puts off such a massive energy that it feels like some of the songs are just recorded live on the floor because it's like everyone in the band is feeding off of each other the entire time.
Even if I'm wrong about the whole live on the floor thing, listening to this album certainly makes you want to see them perform the whole damn thing live because it's massive and has so many layers to it along with the fact that if they can capture this kind of energy on a record than seeing it live must be unreal.
I love these elements of almost hardcore and blistering aggression combined with a sullen sadness, or happiness even.
There are tracks that just hit with a fierceness but then there are others that send you off into a drifting space that causes memories to pop into your head at random and keeps you floating a few feet above the ground the entire time.
The range of influence that the record exudes is stupendous and just when you feel like you know what to expect, the unexpected hits you and I think this is part of how they do their thing and how the record was built.
Every single detail, every last word, even the order of the tracks is something that came into play when creating this record for sure but throughout all of that it never loses that persona or that character which may be the most important part of the whole thing.
A lot of these songs rock out damn well and do indeed give off that pop punk tonality at times and the band has a way of creating a sort of atmosphere to the point where if you listen to the whole record, which you should by the way, it's more of an experience than an album and it's like an escape that pulls you into a semi-fantastical place.
There are elements of strangeness, bliss, sadness, anger, anthemic tonality, and even orchestration.
As I just said, this is something you want to listen to in full because if you don't, for example if you listen to just a few songs off the record, then you're not getting the full set of stories nor are you getting the full spectrum of what the record has to actually offer.
Don't get me wrong, there are some singles that stand out to me that would do incredibly well on the radio but there's also tracks that need to be part of the record for it to make sense as well that aren't exactly single style songs.
This album pulls you away from your surroundings and when it's over you have to reacclimate to meet yourself back to reality again which to me is kind of like a gift in music,
I definitely adore how they take themselves seriously but also not too seriously at the same time and that has a lot to do with the lyrical content of course but it also shows that character of the band and their whole approach to music and life in general.
This was an awesome release that you need to turn nice and loud and set aside 40 minutes to listen to in full. Straight up.
Do that and see how it affects you and remember where you heard it first.
Comments