AZVL – 8

AZVL – 8 – Album Review

It was the year 2026…that’ll be the precise time I’ll pinpoint when people ask me when music with AI became more than convincing enough to listen to.  Mind you, that’ll be fairly true of most of us when we look back and think about it.  Up to this year, it’s had some ups & some downs…it’s had both immediate acceptance & an appropriate resistance, and eventually, soon after I think that the majority of us had to adjust to the fact that it was now a reality to be found in the music scene, some of it finally became well worthwhile to check out.  As I’ve said a few times already…I don’t really think the masses care all that much about how the sausage gets made – they just want something that sounds good on their way to their 9-5 job.  If you can satisfy that one, fairly simple requirement, you’ve essentially cracked the code.  I’m not saying we have to full-on embrace AI in music or in anything else that we do as human beings, but we do have to acknowledge that like it or not, it’s absolutely here to stay – that’s objective reality.

I could see that it was going to move quickly, and it has.  From my first cringe-worthy experiences with it less than a year ago, to hearing where AI music is at now…Jesus H. Jon Benjamin, it’s insanely night and day already.  I think we’re all somewhat the same in that we want to know, so that we’re not getting ‘fooled’ by AI, but when we’re listening, we basically don’t want to hear any trace of the machines at work whatsoever at the same time.  I invite you to listen to AZVL, aka Santa Muerte Azul – made with the assistance of AI, but with the careful supervision and guidance of one of the more skilled musicians we know of in the Electro realm.  In other words, it was no surprise to me that this dude was gonna do it better than most, because that’s who he has always been.  You might recognize him in the background of one of these pictures with the review…you’ve come to know him as MOИK.  He’s always embraced technology, and he’s always made killer music with it.  Simply put, he’s given me no reason not to trust him throughout the years, and as I pushed play on AZVL’s record and “INITI8” began, I realized that this new music was on even more solid ground than perhaps I thought it could even be.  Don’t go getting carried away y’all…this is the second AI-based music project I’ve enjoyed so far…we’re still far from bringing the average into double-digit terrain if we’re talking percentages.  But AZVL’s “INITI8” not only revealed the high standard of sound I think we’ve all been hoping for with respect to AI’s evolution – it also presented me with music that I knew instantly I’d be more than stoked to listen to.  In keeping with MOИK’s own unimpeachable work, the attention to detail in AZVL’s music was immediately on display.  We’re talkin’ wildly dynamic, complex & involved Electro-based tunes that are bound to make an impact on ya…we’re talkin’ about gripping sound that no listener would be ashamed to bump at max volume.

What I WANT…is for you to take the damn Pepsi Challenge for yourself, and see if you feel any different than I do.  As “CIRCUL8” kicked off with its impressively intricate intro and harmonics combined, only to explode into the fireworks it detonates further down the road…I mean…this song has the kind of pure dynamism you’re pretty much always hoping to find.  I’m not hearing the hallmarks of AI slop, nor did I expect to find them in a MOИK-based project to begin with.  You listen to a nuclear track like “CIRCUL8” and try to tell me that the work hasn’t been put in!  The craftsmanship is there, and the results are super strong as a result.  As far as the vocals of AZVL are concerned…honestly, it probably SHOULD blow your mind that this isn’t a human being rocking the mic.  The raw emotion is there, the stylistically slick melody is bang on, the big notes are fucking EPIC…and it’s kind of one of those strange moments in time where you have to be a little concerned, sure – but allow yourself the opportunity to truly marvel at what’s really being done here too.  You’d only know “CIRCUL8” is AI because someone like me told ya – you wouldn’t know at all if you were just having a listen for yourself.  I’ve heard the telltales tics of AI in production, in vocals, in music, in songwriting…you name it, I’ve been there – and I’m telling you directly that you’re not going to hear any of that stuff on AZVL’s 8.  All the kinks have been ironed out, leaving you with only the sonic kickassery in a bunch of music that’s designed to be turned fully the fuck on UP!

It DOES get to the point where you almost wonder IF you have any control over whether or not you’re going to like what you hear.  Like, I put on “LEVIT8” for example, and within the first thirty seconds it’s already game over y’all…if you can resist what you’re hearing, you’re built of stronger stuff than I am.  The amount of hooks coming at you on this track is STAGGERING – that’s what’s real.  The most you’ll find me conceding to you, is that I have heard similar cadences in AI singers to an extent…like, I’m thinking back to the only other album that’s impressed me so far in Mista J’s Blue from earlier this year, and I could work to pull similarities out of the two sounds that certainly exist, but why do that?  Why would I spend that kind of time (other than to enjoy both records again) when the reality is, the vast majority of flesh-born singers have a ton of similarities between them too.  What I’m absolutely STOKED about, is that none of “LEVIT8” or AZVL’s album sounds anything like Imagine Dragons, Ed Sheeran, or Taylor Swift so far, which most of the AI-based music that has come my way has incorporated in some way in everything I’ve heard outside of this and Mista J.  While I’m still going to tell you that anything learning on what’s been done in the past is by definition incapable of doing anything we haven’t heard in some way already, it doesn’t always have to be about recreating the wheel if you can refine the fuck outta one instead.  Maybe “LEVIT8” isn’t necessarily breaking NEW ground in music, but is it really any less groundbreaking if we’re considering everything that’s involved in creating it?  I’m no more immune to a great tune than you are and I’m more than happy to support everything I’m hearing in AZVL’s music.

One thing you will NEVER find me supporting, like, ever…is counting out loud in music – stop it with that shit y’all.  LOL.  Do what you do…and ignore the things I say…I’m just a grumpy-ass old man at this point in my career in music journalism.  I’ll let it slide this time around…it’s not a majorly intrusive aspect of “TERMIN8,” though it does come up a couple times along the way as you listen.  I’m outright amazed by the sound of AZVL’s voice at her (Do we really need to ascribe genders to AI?  Just wondering out loud.) most intense…like, she’ll fuckin’ blow the doors off your house if you turn this up where the music belongs.  Some of those screams on songs like “CIRCUL8” and “TERMIN8” will bring chills to your spine, and that’s all based on a seriously accurate level of emotional intensity & precision that many of you out there would likely think AI ain’t even capable of yet.  Spoiler alert, it absolutely IS capable, and as AZVL will go on to prove several times over in listening to this record, the use of raw power connects in ways that will outright astound you.  The rasp in her voice when she wants to use it, or again, the screaming at the height of her biggest moments…it’s genuinely something to behold.  For all of you out there that are hoping to one day stumble upon that amazing front-person for your band, or have already realized just how insanely rare it IS to find a powerhouse on the mic…I’ve gotta call a spade a spade as they say – AI is proving that you have a highly reliable ally in that regard, if you really know how to use it to your advantage like MOИK has done with the creation of AZVL.  As to whether or not “TERMIN8” is the track of all tracks…I’ll let you decide that for yourselves.  For me, I don’t think it quite rose to that level when compared to the rest, but the most significant highlights in this song are still monumental achievements.

Regardless of what you might think the potential reach of a song might be on the ol’ scale of accessibility, the supreme dynamics and depth of this Electro-based music is freakin’ SUPERB to listen to.  Like, I’m well aware of the fact that folks outside of the Electro realm probably aren’t just going to start rocking “ELIMIN8” on their way to work – but what a fantastic world we’d be living in if they did, right?  And I’m allowed to dream, so don’t wake me.  More along the lines of something you’d hear in IDM than EDM if you’re familiar with the distinction, “ELIMIN8” might even show us a more…hmm…a quicker way for the masses to accept AI in the vocal department…maybe that’s what I’m trying to say here.  AZVL is still in the mix, but not in the same way she has been so far to this point in the record.  Her voice is more of an accent to the music in general this time around, and a lot more sparingly than she has been.  For some reason, it feels like people – human people – would probably have an easier time accepting that kind of approach I guess, though I could be (and quite often am) wrong.  This much I can tell you for certain – the MUSIC and its outstanding ideas/production deserves to have equal billing with AZVL at the very least, and “ELIMIN8” is really the track on this record that will give you the clearest glimpses into why that is, unencumbered.  The dimension in the sound, and the scope of it all, is purely spectacular.

Lest we forget, there’s a human still at the helm of all this, and he’s done an exceptional job of making sure you’re not just entertained by what you hear on 8, but fully blown away by it.  So don’t go acting surprised when you hear lyricism like you hear on “SEPER8” and you discover that AZVL has something to SAY through her music.  Dig the vocals, dig the lyrics…those were probably the main highlights for me when it came to this particular track I’d say.  Musically, don’t get me wrong – it’s as killer as the rest is – but I also think it’s fair to point out that around this point of the record, you might start to feel like the sound has a consistency to its approach that it might actually work against it in some way.  It still sounds amazing, there’s no denying that…but yeah…for as many moves as you’ll hear being made in the way the music moves, there’s a similarity in the structure & results that has a comparable rhythm and pulse.  Obviously, that’s not a bad thing if you dig what you hear, but it could have the opposite effect if you don’t.  Look…8 is a very, very tailored style of album…and there’s always going to be risks in creating that kind of an album.  The quality is insane, and that might be a massive advantage into pulling people into the genre/style of music here, but I would also say there’s still room for AZVL to evolve when it comes to the diversity of the overall sound.  Which seems like a crazy comment to make considering how many different things have actually been happening in “SEPER8” and the other tracks along the way, but I have the feeling that those really listening to this album might know what I’m really getting at.

You’ll quite likely hear what I hear in that regard.  Intro…rumbles of low end…building…explosion…break down…huge finale…music is math, as they say, and when you’ve got a formula that works, it’s actually really damn hard to break away from it.  “ILLUMIN8” has many great things going for it, and AZVL switches gears on the mic to make this track stand out from much of the rest…these are good things.  In short bursts, obviously you’re not going to notice patterns as much as someone like myself, whose job it is to sit here & road test these songs and records by spinning them as many times as I can before I write about them, but just keep in mind, if I’m hearing/noticing something, chances are I’m not alone.  Other people will notice those same things I do, trust me, I’m really not that observant.  It’s also fair to say that it’s not like it’s just AZVL that has similar or comparable approaches in how things are shaped from track to track – the vast majority of artists/bands do too.  I’m simply advocating on behalf of always being mindful of the patterns we fall into, and making every effort we can to break out of every box we might end up in creatively.  The main hook in this track – “all the dark will come to light” is easily right up there with the most potent and impactful that you’ll find on this record…it’s gigantic, it’s anthemic, it’s sensationally gripping…it’s the mood and the moment all in one y’all.  AZVL sounds as incredible as she has throughout the album of course…truthfully, I have no evidence to support that she has any real choice in the matter…as in, I don’t even know if she CAN suck, because she seems to crack the bat whenever she’s called upon, and her biggest moments on the mic continually sound as outright superhuman as they probably should if we’re talkin’ about these tunes from a technological aspect.  Dig the way this track finished off with the extra backing vocals and the bare-bones final line…sometimes it’s the smallest details that make all the difference.  This time around, they’re appreciated and welcomed – but HELL NO, there ain’t NOTHING that’s going to make more of an impact than AZVL in the main hooks on “ILLUMIN8.”  I’ve been continually amazed by what she’s capable of as I listened to this set-list in full.

Love the ideas on display in the music’s melody on the final track, “8.”  Like…right from the drop y’all – if you’re not fully interested and engaged within fifteen seconds, you are a literal corpse, and you should probably get a doctor to check that out.  If you’ve got ears and they’re not just decorative pieces of your face, then the title-track should have you paying complete attention immediately.  Expanding to include a bit more of a Reggae-esque vibe into the fold of its Electro-based DNA, AZVL continues to make moves that count on the microphone, and the music never disappoints with its killer blend of vibrant dynamics.  What I really love about this final song, which is also really true of the album overall, is that MOИK is clearly SO CONFIDENT in AZVL that he essentially DARES US all to listen to her and find some kind of cracks in her armor.  And of course, we cannot find any where none exist.  But like, where the music is delivered softly in the breakdown, you get that extraordinary clarity in her voice as the dominant trait in the song…and like…fuck…AZVL sounds just as real as you or I would, though she’s probably a much better singer than the majority of us could ever hope to be.  My point is, if we could hear some kind of glitches or AI-revealing tics, we’d hear them in these moments of clarity…and instead, MOИK seems fully ready to bring AZVL as close to you as possible, inviting you to find those inconsistencies, comfortable in the knowledge that there truly are none to be found.  8 has been an all-around trip to listen to over the past week or so…I think it draws a major line in the sand between those that use AI, and those that use AI extremely well…because there is a distinction, and there is a difference.  This record is a real embrace of technology, and MOИK has never shied away from that in his music…8 is further proof that whatever he’s doin’ definitely works wonders for him, and we’d be foolish to complain about results this fantastic.

You can expect to find 8 dropping online officially 08/08/26…until then, stay connected with AZVL by visiting the main site at:  https://azvl.rocks – you might just find a way to discover some extraordinary covers of songs by bands like Blue Oyster Cult, Misfits, The Cure and more in the process while you await the release of the new album – just sayin.’

Ya ha!  This link right here is the key to being the next artist or band featured here at sleepingbagstudios, so instead of just ignoring it, click it instead!