’…painful, dizzying, and frequently disconcerting, yet also deeply, spiritually cathartic…’
Author’s Note: This review is the concluding entry Catch-Up Week 2024, in which we check out a couple of projects that slipped under the radar during this past year, before we close out 2024 with the end of year listings! – Ry
Strelitzia released their debut EP all the way back in 2017, and only this year did the Arizona-based outfit follow that release up with any new material. Six years is a long time in any industry, and for musicians, entire careers can rise and fall in that span; for a single album to taken that long, it is indicative of a release that is either a mess that has languished in a musical development hell, or a very special release that required every second of that time span to be crafted.
In regards to ‘Winter’, it is clear that Strelitzia’s lengthy creative process is down to the latter reasoning. The band describe themselves as ‘post/emo/math rock for sad nerds’, and whilst that is perhaps indisputably true, it does not nearly do justice to the scope, ambition, and raw power of the sound they conjure up on this debut album. Folkish acoustic guitars play alongside wildly complex math rock riffs, whilst rousing brass instruments decorate background. Vocals alternate between catchy, spirited melodies and fierce, visceral screams as the album grapples with loss, heartbreak, and grief.
The album opens with ‘Decigic’, which sees luscious soundscapes explode into crashing riffs and delicately playful melodies, with a beautiful and cinematic sense of scale. Skylar Bankson‘s lower vocal register makes for a gorgeous introduction to the album. The folkish undertones arise to prominence on the buoyant yet bittersweet ‘Say It’, with its soundscape dominated by intricate acoustic guitar melodies that frolic beneath the anxious lyricism, painting pictures of the uncomfortable conversations of a relationship held down by the weight of painful pasts.
The central conflict of being deeply in love with someone unable to move beyond their own pain truly blossoms on the ten minute behemoth ‘Sara’. Evolving through multiple phases, the song continues the cinematic splendour that the band establish their album with, whilst uncomfortably vulnerable lyricism paints a picture of refusing to accept that the person you love is unhealthy for you (‘I could have been so much more/If you weren’t the only thing I was fighting for/I blamed god and everything else except for you/And I could still die by your hands if you want me to’).
The emotive weight of this record is surprisingly complimented by the sheer complexity of Strelitzia’s musicianship; too often, jazz-fusion and math-rock outfits rely on technical proficiency at the expense of engaging and emotionally impactful songwriting. Strelitzia manage to avoid this, and as the record progresses through inventive and subtly chaotic tracks such as ‘Digital Spliff (Bees?!)’ and ‘Sben’, not only is the listener treated to wonderfully inventive musical performances, but none of the rich emotional impact is lost at the expense of this.
It is perhaps the minimalist rumination of ‘Epilogue’, however, that offers the most powerful experience of the record. Raw production places the simple combination of acoustic guitar and vocals directly on front of the listener, as the album arrives at its tragic conclusion; a simultaneous recognition that the weight of a human soul can be too much for one to carry, and a violently painful acknowledgment of grief and regret (‘Someone once said no one wants to die/They just want to feel safe enough/Sara I’m sorry/I couldn’t make you feel safe enough’).
‘Winter’ may well be an album of endings, but this wildly inventive expulsion of grief offers not only a wonderful beginning for Strelitzia as a band, but also a palpable and necessary new beginning for them as people. The story that this band have managed to tell is painful, dizzying, and frequently disconcerting, yet also deeply, spiritually cathartic.
When 2034 arrives and we discuss classic emo records, ‘Winter’ may well be in that conversation.
RATING: 94/100 – Excellent
For Fans Of: A Place For Owls, Chalk Hands, Manchester Orchestra, Delta Sleep, Chon
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