"Blinded obedience / Skillful defiance of self / Pressurized shame in a bottle till it explodes / (It explodes)..."
The magical sonic suspensions of "Optimistic Absurdity" by Winnipeg, Manitoba artist Moonbell might carry you away like it did me upon my very first listen. The slightly muted fanning guitar strumming, the propulsive beats, chamber pop orchestrations all feel so dreamy, embracing a whimsical sometimes 'child like' stare at things seen for the very first time. The swells of intense sounds at around 49 seconds in feel like walking through a door of sorts, like Dorothy stepping into the Technicolor world of Oz. The lyrics are beautifully curious (and just plain beautiful) drawing out sonic tarot cards that you might have to interpret. I love lyrics that are not necessarily to the point but asks us to wonder about them and the silence in between.
Skillful defiance of self,
Pressurized shame in a bottle till it explodes,
(It explodes)
You should know better you had all the letters from Paul,
It's the painful decipher of words I can't feel at all,
Now the dark through the cracks feels warm,
Finally I feel good,
I finally feel good,"
While you can listen to the song on it's own, for fun I have included a You Tube video to play while listening to "Optimistic Absurdity", which by the way is the title track of Moonbell's third full length. Just don't forget to turn mute the video.
While you can listen to the song on it's own, for fun I have included a You Tube video to play while listening to "Optimistic Absurdity", which by the way is the title track of Moonbell's third full length. Just don't forget to turn mute the video.
LINER NOTES (bracketed):
[Nihilism can be pretty enticing when you start to break away from what you thought was true. It can lead you down a dark road. But what's fascinating is that there's light to be found on that dark road. When you realize, "there are no rules", especially in music, there comes a freedom to make something unique and meaningful from meaninglessness. And so, meaninglessness becomes hopeful. You can create joyful experiences just for the sake of experiencing them. And therefore, that joy becomes meaningful.
Like many others, after watching the movie "Everything Everywhere All At Once", MoonBell was affected to his core. It was like a world of colour was revealed. Absurdity on its own can be fun or depressing, but add a little optimism in there and the world explodes into limitless possibilities to create something worth experiencing.
This hopeful feeling runs throughout MoonBell's third LP, even in his cover of the anti-war song, "99 Red Balloons". The song itself has an absurd concept, so why not give it an absurd yet optimistic sound.]
"All around the fire flies are flickering
(It's just their job)
Cosmic illusion that spirals delusion of cause,
Who's the author, the painter, prime mover, or final boss,
Even if I'm alone here the dark through the cracks feels warm,
I feel good"
Like many others, after watching the movie "Everything Everywhere All At Once", MoonBell was affected to his core. It was like a world of colour was revealed. Absurdity on its own can be fun or depressing, but add a little optimism in there and the world explodes into limitless possibilities to create something worth experiencing.
This hopeful feeling runs throughout MoonBell's third LP, even in his cover of the anti-war song, "99 Red Balloons". The song itself has an absurd concept, so why not give it an absurd yet optimistic sound.]
"All around the fire flies are flickering
(It's just their job)
Cosmic illusion that spirals delusion of cause,
Who's the author, the painter, prime mover, or final boss,
Even if I'm alone here the dark through the cracks feels warm,
I feel good"
In the end "Optimistic Absurdity" creates a vast moodiness soaked in wide eyed wonder and curious melancholia at the very same time.
-Robb Donker Curtius
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THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://www.instagram.com/moonbellmusic
https://www.facebook.com/MusicMoonBell
https://moonbell1.bandcamp.com/album/optimistic-absurdity
MoonBell's greatest fear is to forget: lose his memory, forget his loved ones, and lose his self. But this multi-instrumentalist is creating worlds for his memories to live on; MoonBell is a storyteller through synths, choral voices, looping effects and of course, his trumpet which can be heard in the foreground or background of almost every song. Influenced by his experiences living and travelling in the Canadian Prairies, the Rocky Mountains, and Spain, MoonBell composes his music like a symphony, meticulously layering sound after sound, memory after memory, with an end result that completely entrances listeners.
MoonBell's greatest fear is to forget: lose his memory, forget his loved ones, and lose his self. But this multi-instrumentalist is creating worlds for his memories to live on; MoonBell is a storyteller through synths, choral voices, looping effects and of course, his trumpet which can be heard in the foreground or background of almost every song. Influenced by his experiences living and travelling in the Canadian Prairies, the Rocky Mountains, and Spain, MoonBell composes his music like a symphony, meticulously layering sound after sound, memory after memory, with an end result that completely entrances listeners.
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