Review: Psychedelic Anxiety by Frances Chang released via Ramp Local
The journey I went on with this one was something I’ll tell ya.
I don’t really know what to make of Psychedelic Anxiety. On first spin I honestly didn’t understand this at all and felt it was too all over the place. On my second listen I was getting used to it and started to enjoy it a little. On third listen, well…
A good portion of the listening experience here is, in fact, still kind of a mess. It’s all sort of disjointed acoustic riffs and half whispered vocals with jarring backing vocals and contributed to my original “negative” experience. I never like comparing artists, but in this case, I think it’ll show where I turned around. One of my favorite bands of all time is Coheed and Cambria. Coheed often releases their demos, usually pretty far off in terms of mood from the original. The vocal style on those demos are similar to what’s going on here. If I could respect it when a big band does it on a rough draft, I know I can appreciate it on a DIY record. A lot of my criticism of artists like France Chang typically is them trying too hard to achieve a certain sound but in the case of this artist, this record I think it’s just what comes naturally.
Of course, not every song has this way of presenting itself to you. “Eye Land” starts very lowkey and swiftly becomes a full-fledged rocker who's gone as soon as it comes. This, of course, made me realize what makes the other tracks feel so special. I don’t have much to say about this side of the album aside from this paragraph. It’s good, but other artists are doing this, no one is really doing the more displaced sound on this level of quality. The guitar work on “Ya a Mirage” is so spaced out sonically and loud yet subtle. The bass sections on “Darkside” are so loud and overblown I’m not even sure how to really describe it. The following “First I Was Afraid” sounds like a tragic stage play. No two songs are alike but they’re all integral pieces to the puzzle.
My favorite sound explored on Psychedelic Anxiety are the two spoken word tracks; “Sci-Fi Soap Opera” and “Rate My Aura.” “Sci-Fi” is very impactful and talks about how growing alongside someone can cause your roots to become entangled. When you have to leave them, you have to lose a part of yourself. “Aura” is my favorite cut from the record as Frances speaks with an intonation not used anywhere else on this project. There are punk drums but psychedelic guitars and so much being talked about it needs to be heard not described.
We don’t have control over what we don’t yet have control over.
There are so many sounds going on here I don’t fully have a grasp on all of them. Thing is, I want to grasp, I want to understand. To me this is what a great record is, one who keeps me coming back for more. I know if I keep listening, I’ll keep finding new things. My journey with this one is just beginning, but it’s the offset of a great one.
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