"and I tried to get back, and I'm going insane..."
It is not often that I hear a debut from an artist that seems so incredibly flushed out, that tells it's story with such a self assured hand. Maybe it is because Henry Louris, a singer-songwriter and DIY producer based our of Fairfield, Connecticut has been exploring with sonic storytelling since he was a young teen starting to write music as humming, an exercise to ease anxiety. Heightened creativity for most artists take many manifestations and Henry, a Fine Art graduate has been expressing himself with music and painting since childhood.
When I first pushed play on "Titanomachy" I guess you can say it left a stain on my brain. It was one that I initially tried to wash off but could not. From the darkly dancing heavy synth line, the orchestrated psychedelia and super pretty hypnotic sparse picked electric guitar I felt anchored in like the potent drum beat and what sounds like percussive vocal beats. Each time I listened I felt more and appreciated Henry's full throated passionate vocal aesthetic and ability to feel the story he is telling. Time for his words about his sonic creation:
"Originating from a dream, "Titanomachy" tells the story of generational uprising from the perspective of a passive bystander. The narrator realizes that they capitalize on the spirit of revolution, therefore appropriating its nature in order to profit off of it. The song not only serves as a commentary on the corporate coopting of protest, but it also allows me to reflect on my own relationship as a white person with my blues and rock influences. The turmoil of the arrangement is a result of me wrestling with my own relationship to music born out of pain and community that is not my own."
Reading Henry's thoughts about this remarkable song and what informs it absolutely explains a lot of the things I was feeling within the framework, the bones and blood and guts of the song. The haunting resonance of the vast vox and panoramic pain has a sense of Americana spirituals meets folk and blues and then shift to chamber pop and rock motifs. Listen to what Henry says about the sonic tableau:
"Titanomachy is fully a pop song, but it derives influence from the blues of B.B, King in combination with the progressive folk of Roy Harper and the proto post-rock of Talk Talk. However, as the production progressed, I channeled that influence into art pop resembling David Bowie and Kate Bush, echoing Bowie's own relationship to Black music in his "plastic soul" period. In that sense, I believe Titanomachy to be an ode to influence: both its artistry and its brutality."
An amazing tapestry of sounds stitched together with reflections of pain and forbearance that I will revel in often. I love the influences that Henry mention and I also hear passages that remind me of The Pixies (oddly enough) and The Beatles, specifically Lennon's grand psychedelic "Strawberry Fields Forever", although I admit that I have been seeing a lot of Beatles sonic mirages in other peoples work since seeing Peter Jackson's "Get Back" and I fully love and realize that songs are sonic Rorschach tests that we impress our own realities on. Before I let anyone who is reading this go I want to say one more thing about Henry's vocal performance on "Titanomachy". I don't know how many takes it took to accomplish or how many drop ins were required but it feels so incredibly live, present and felt. It is hard to describe Henry's vocal aesthetic but, for whatever reason, I feel an amalgam of Michael Hutchence (INXS), Peter Garrett (Midnight Oil) and Jeff Buckley. Just wanted to share that. Now go dive in.
-Robb Donker Curtius
* * *
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
https://www.instagram.com/henrylourismusic/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/3TtjxwD5UMrGzx11dN7Hf4
Henry Louris is a self-produced songwriter based in Fairfield, Connecticut. He began writing music by humming to himself to ease anxiety, eventually graduating to his first acoustic guitar as a teenager. A Fine Art graduate, Louris has balanced painting and music since childhood, giving him a unique perspective on music and the creative process.
Louris’s work explores themes from Greek mythology, Jewish mysticism, and Kriya Yoga, drawing inspiration from his meditative experiences and the dichotomy of bliss and pain that accompanies traveling deep into the subconscious. He engages with these themes through both embodying and satirizing archetypes, taking on and addressing different personas in his lyrics. The music combines elements of progressive folk with drum machines, layered vocals, and cutting riffs to create a sound that is both vast and immediate. This combination of post rock and folk influence balances the homemade nature of bedroom music with a tendency for grand presentation, reflecting the artist’s desire to find the universal in the deeply personal.
Louris’s work explores themes from Greek mythology, Jewish mysticism, and Kriya Yoga, drawing inspiration from his meditative experiences and the dichotomy of bliss and pain that accompanies traveling deep into the subconscious. He engages with these themes through both embodying and satirizing archetypes, taking on and addressing different personas in his lyrics. The music combines elements of progressive folk with drum machines, layered vocals, and cutting riffs to create a sound that is both vast and immediate. This combination of post rock and folk influence balances the homemade nature of bedroom music with a tendency for grand presentation, reflecting the artist’s desire to find the universal in the deeply personal.
Henry Louris, post rock, art rock, indie rock, alt rock, folk rock, blue rock, post rock, poetry, reflection, "Titanomachy", Fine arts graduate, painter, musician, singer songwriter, diy producer, deep thinker,
No comments:
Post a Comment