Solar Pixie Journals – “Building The Perfect Monster”
Solar Pixie Journals – “Building The Perfect Monster” – Single Review
If you tuned into the latest episode of the SBS Podcast, you had the opportunity to check out THE FUTURE OF MUSIC when we played the brand-new cut “Building The Perfect Monster” from the upcoming album from Solar Pixie Journals called Temporizing The Ephemeral being released on January 21st next year. That’s right, I said it, the future of music! Or at the very least, it’s a glimpse of what we can expect to come in 2020 – you can decide how you wanna take that comment, I just write’em.
Created entirely from the ground up DIY style, it’s clear that the musically-inclined mind of Kelleigh Lonidier, the solo-artist at the heartbeat of SPJ, knows no restraint or limitations when it comes to adding imagination and authentic ideas into the mix. Ultimately, that’s what “Building The Perfect Monster” is, ain’t it? Maybe it’s all metaphorical…and the story represents the song itself in some crazy Inception-esque song-within-a-song set of ideas…like maybe “Building The Perfect Monster” is an allusion to executing on all-fronts when it comes to the art of making music and adding each layer, instrument, ingredient, and lyric, piece by piece. Or maybe it’s a song with a story about making a monster in it…it could be many things…I’m not here to lay it ALL out – you can decide for yourselves.
Facts are facts…even when songs might be about one thing, they can still include many other aspects & details surrounding the main idea…I’d wager a guess that at least ninety-percent of the tunes out there are about one thing, and a whole bunch of others things too at the same time – you feel me? “Building The Perfect Monster” is definitely open to interpretation on many levels…and chances are, no one single theory will get anywhere close to what Solar Pixie Journals is really getting at with the lyrics to this song. That gives you the freedom to let your mind roam into the realm of your own theories and ideas about what the potential meanings behind each line may be…and perhaps that’s the real intentions of the design to begin with. The point is, there’s lots here for your brain to chew on…what your brain chooses to do with that information…is likely going to filter this song through your own unique perspective, as opposed to getting to the core meanings of a track as widespread as you’ll find throughout the lyrics of “Building The Perfect Monster,” or attempting to understand it from the point of view of its creator.
And that’s more than okay – it’s quite often encouraged – listening ears tend to dig being able to fill in some of the blanks on their own and form their own attachments to the music they’re listening to.
Here’s what I can tell ya…Solar Pixie Journals lives on the fringe of the not quite this & not quite that – it’s a collage of sounds & styles that give a track like “Building The Perfect Monster” its personality, its crossover potential, and also its niche appeal. To begin with, you’d probably be likely to find SPJ included with the progressives in music out there…as accessible as some of the moments in this cut are, that’s exactly the thing – some are easily absorbed, other points take more involved & artistic directions. Progressive-anything is a term that can scare a few people out there, but I’d remind you all that the label’s implications always equate to something innovative, unique, or downright impossible to classify. In listening to a song like Solar Pixie Journals’ “Building The Perfect Monster,” you gotta recognize that all three of those aspects are in-play here – it’s innovative in the sense that you’d have no chance of predicting how this tune would turn out from the moment it starts, it’s unique in the sense that its combination of parts & sound-selection are antitypical in just about every way you can imagine, and it’s impossible to classify for the multi-genre blending of sounds and slick hybrid results. Is it going to be for everyone out there? No, of course not – but you don’t go for something as creative as this with as much confidence & commitment as you’ll hear from SPJ without fully being comfortable with that; it’s designed for people that wanna jump aboard the crazy train of music and head to wherever it’ll take ya. You make songs like “Building The Perfect Monster” for the artistic value, the creative challenge, and the true pleasure of making music – which is exactly what Kelleigh is really all about when it comes to her craft.
For real though…chances are, you’ll find something within this smorgasbord of sound you’ll dig. Like how about the drums on the way into this song at the very beginning? Brilliant! Or how about the key role the piano plays in filling in the melody, madness, and atmosphere of this tune? Also rad! The crisp snap of the snare, the playful piano, and synthetic keys in behind the robotic-nature of the vocals over top…the absolutely KILLER guitar that comes ripping in with the chorus – all of these elements stack up quickly into an engaging set of ideas that again, aren’t like much else you’ll find out there. Smoothing it out in the breakdown/bridge around the 3:20 mark and gliding for about a minute in the music & on the microphone before coming back to the main hooks of “Building The Perfect Monster,” SPJ makes sure to devote a solid portion of this track to the instrumentation outside of the vocals, helping you appreciate the layers of instrumentation at work to make this song generate as much interesting sound as it does.
It’s quirky in its personality, and oddly charming at the same time…at least when it comes to the verses – when it comes time to execute the chorus, Solar Pixie Journals adopts a more involved seriousness to the vibe, drops the playfulness, giving it an alternative edge and another dimension of crossover appeal. The bottom line is, SPJ is obviously fully willing to reach far into the beyond in a sincere effort to create genuinely new entertainment and wild combinations in structure & sound – you can hear that clearly from the imaginative composition of “Building The Perfect Monster” from start to finish. Solar Pixie Journals definitely seems inspired to break through to exciting & new combinations of sound that we haven’t experienced before, and my ears are always going to appreciate that – yours should too.
Find out more about Solar Pixie Journals at the main website: https://solarpixiejournals.com
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