"tell me I'm healing, rising tides drag me to the ceiling, breathe in, push out the feeling..."
"Meant to Be" is a special piece of work, a sonic painting by Los Angeles based artist Norman Lake and a follow up to his deeply personal 2021 EP "The Polaroid EP". After several listens, absorbing the gasp of exasperation, the rich orchestral folk sounds, layers or downtrodden acoustic guitars, melodies that have hints of busker punk and early 90's indie emo burnt rock, there is a specific point when Norman Lakes sings out "it's the lie within me, it's the contradiction" when a deep chill skated goosebumps across my legs. It obviously wasn't only that one line that caused a physical manifestation on my skin but the stacking up of emotions that preceded it, that effected me, moved me. Moved me so much that it lead me to the EP.
To say that, "The Polaroid EP", is somber is an understatement. Norman Lake has crafted a deep well of melancholia that for the most part is very stripped down. The track "Maybe" is bathed with a minimally drawn orchestral folk tone but other songs like the cascading spiral of "Natalie" that trades grunge tones and kind of 60's bohemian psych folk strains or the wistful, crushing, scratched photography of "Consume" exist as dark, brutally painful campfire songs. The EP's namesake, "Polaroid" feels exquisitely sing-songy and pretty even though it also suggests depression and a numbness born out of being beat up in life, by others or oneself.
Norman Lake's music is informed by hard times and at this point in my comments it would be best for the artist to speak for himself.
"Though a songwriter since the day I picked up guitar, my real journey as an artist started 5 years ago when I spent ten days on psychiatric hold in a mental hospital. Drugs and mental illness had consumed my life, and every emotion seemed like a tidal wave I couldn't control. It was a long road to become sober and begin healing, but in that struggle I discovered my voice as an artist.
My goal with music is to allow people to feel things too difficult to express in a conversation, with others or with themselves. Feelings of confusion, or pain, or heartbreak are not meant to be beaten into submission. We have the privilege to feel these things and recover by understanding they are part of our humanity.
In my effort to remain sincere and honest with my audience, I record all of my music as single live takes to 4 track tape. I feel it gives the most intimate listening experience, and I cannot hide behind the clean tricks that yield digital perfection. Instead, the listener hears whichever take of the song had the most emotion behind it."
My goal with music is to allow people to feel things too difficult to express in a conversation, with others or with themselves. Feelings of confusion, or pain, or heartbreak are not meant to be beaten into submission. We have the privilege to feel these things and recover by understanding they are part of our humanity.
In my effort to remain sincere and honest with my audience, I record all of my music as single live takes to 4 track tape. I feel it gives the most intimate listening experience, and I cannot hide behind the clean tricks that yield digital perfection. Instead, the listener hears whichever take of the song had the most emotion behind it."
I love the fact that these songs were recorded under the harsh light of single live takes. I love voices that are a bit bruised and battered. I always gravitate to asymmetrical art and voices. Norman Lake's vocal aesthetic favors emotionality over artifice, it sometimes pushes against dissonant borders. I thought of an amalgam of artists like Gordon Gano (Violent Femmes), Neil Young, Kurt Cobain, 90's Thom Yorke and Robert Smith (The Cure) when I listened to aspects of Norman Lake's vocal aesthetic and musical outlook. Truth is often times beautifully messy and life with all it's cloistered pain and unbridled joy can sometimes feel like one cosmic joke.
This takes me full circle back to "Meant to Be". The Official Video as directed and edited by Cooper Shepard and shot by DOP Nicholas Kalajdzic is a beautiful piece of work featuring someone wrapped entirely in bandages like a mummy. Shot in a seemingly Academy ratio (1.37:1) like the aspect ration of 35mm film but with a color grade giving it a Polaroid-esque look, it is as intriguing as it is beautifully artful. The imagery in total feels like an absurdist but hard edged metaphor. A tip of a hat to healing, maybe to hiding away, and maybe to getting the body and mind healthy after a near death experience.
-Robb Donker Curtius
* * *
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
https://www.instagram.com/normanlakemusic/
https://www.facebook.com/NormanLakeMusic
https://www.normanlake.com/
https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-polaroid-ep/1542390132
90's style DIY recordings with songwriting that's sincere, modern, and brimming with emotion.
No comments:
Post a Comment