25th February 2024
Having begun recording songs during childhood in Northern California, Chelsea Wolfe released her debut album in 2010, blending gothic folk and post-metal. Journeying through her next few albums via neo-folk, electronica, post-punk and metal, Wolfe released Birth of Violence in 2019, leaning further into her folk influences than ever before.
She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She sees Wolfe delve into themes of reflection, rebirth, leaving the past behind all through the lens of some of the most deeply personal subject matter she has ever tackled. Also dealing with Wolfe’s struggle with alcohol, the album cleanses the harm caused by that part of her life. As she explains, “It’s a record about the past self reaching out to the present self, reaching out to the future self to summon change, growth, and guidance. It’s a story of setting yourself free from situations and patterns that are holding you back, in order to become self-empowered. It’s an invitation to step into your authenticity.”
First track Whispers In The Echo Chamber illustrates the significant changes in personal growth Wolfe has experienced as she casts aside previous limitations to forge a new path to authenticity. This world was not designed for us / And I've been punished, I've been blessed / Surrounded by living ghosts, you see / I thought I had to swallow them before they swallowed me. Accurately titled, Wolfe part sings and part whispers her way through the song as intermittent jagged rhythms and eerie, malevolent synths haunt the listener. Moments of the entire band playing add enigmatic industrial textures, seeming to be forever chasing Wolfe’s vulnerable voice as if to ensnare her. Whispers In The Echo Chamber sets the scene for a hypnotic journey through her deepest emotions.
House of Self-Undoing is an altogether more incendiary affair, tackling the theme of Wolfe getting sober after the touring of her last album concluded. Bowed low / Loss of illusion / I start to crawl my way out / Of this strange war / This underworld / Devoid of all direction / All foes hidden. Wolfe melds tempestuous electronica, industrial embellishments and disquieting pop to weave confessions from the subterranean depths of her mind. Wolfe explains, “When you become sober after years of numbing out, you feel, deeply: the moments of joy are euphoric, and the moments of pain are more visceral. But it’s like a call to adventure, facing life fully present is exciting when you’ve spent half your life only half-present.” Initially writing with longtime collaborators Ben Chisholm, Jess Gowrie and Bryan Tulao, Wolfe worked remotely from the spring of 2020 through to the end of 2021. Early in 2022, producer Dave Sitek worked with the band to deconstruct the compositions pushing them into uncharted waters, where they were transformed and reborn.
It is no coincidence that Everything Turns Blue - a slow burner about finding yourself again after a long period of being part of something toxic - is followed by Tunnel Lights, a song Wolfe describes as “actually about living instead of just getting by and waking up to the fact that you’ve been languishing in the dark and it’s time to start taking steps towards the lights that’ll guide you out.” Both tracks, particularly Everything Turns Blue, evoke images of an underground late-night music club. Chillingly ethereally fringed touches complement the regretful, doleful sentiments. I've been thinking about you, heavy on my mind / I've been losing days here, do you know what that's like? / I've been thinking about you / You fucked me up in my dreams / What do I have to do to heal you out of me? Discordant and abradant soundscapes build as layer upon layer of uneasiness descends like a storm closing, echoing the album’s overriding message that healing is a difficult cyclical and circular journey, not a simple linear process. As Wolfe comments about Liminal, “The in-between, and the unseen are recurring characters. Like the dark moon, that void space can feel unpredictable and looming, but it also holds so much potential, mystery, and excitement.”
Every song on She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She is variegated and polychromatic, with each lyric a murky combination of the traumatic and the promising. Eyes Like Nightshade, Unseen World and Salt contain rhythmic echoes of disturbing tribalistic ceremonies, gothic and daunting. Salt expresses the lasting impact of emotional experiences and the desire for genuine connection amidst a backdrop of scrutiny. Use those storied hands, love / To pull voices out of my head / It's your voice I crave / Won't beg your absolution. Throughout the album, there is a nightmarish and inauspicious delicacy to Wolfe’s delivery of her brutally exposed feelings, as if they could come crashing down around her at any moment should she raise the level of her voice. Shawn Everett’s fantastic work mixing the album allows the alluring balance of captivating tenderness, iridescent introspection and threnodial anguish to swirl and dance together as one.
Among many tracks imbued with shadowy beauty, Place In The Sun is a contender for the most poignant; Wolfe’s voice is at its most intoxicatingly serene. Hopeful and empowering, Place In The Sun finds her finding inner strength and seeking a place where she can be content and free. Claim what you want / And take your place in the sun / Hearing songs in the silence / Wings in our lungs / And with the air my guide / Let me fly. Final song, Dusk, conjures portentous sensations with mood-altering intense guitar as Wolfe repeats the final mantra-like lyrics, And I will go through the fire / And I will go through the fire / And I will go through the fire / And I will...
She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She is a fearless and unflinching album, during which Wolfe invites fans to examine her deepest emotions in intricate detail. Some listeners may say that the album is often similarly paced throughout. There may be some truth in the fact that the sheer density of the lyrics and oppressive nature of the music will be overwhelming for some. However, for those who find themselves in the right frame of mind, at the right time of day - the album plays wonderfully in the dark – and are willing to submit to the beguiling and cohesive spell that Wolfe casts, She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She is an exhilarating, heart-breaking but mesmeric ride.
She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She is out now.
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