Portland artist saoirse dream released her second album, grimdark, out now via Lauren Records. Listen closely, if you are not familiar with this artist or 8-bit music and dariacore, you might get caught up in what seems like fun novelty and miss the emotional devastation and density of her words. The power of this blend of seemingly contrasting elements is impressive and exciting.
Catherine Egbert, the artist behind emotronica band saoirse dream, accomplishes one of the most difficult thing in life with this LP, which is to lay bare the most wretched, pained parts of your existence for anyone to see. She managed to do that, and then wrap the experiences in detailed whimsy with her outstanding production. Egbert calls it wizard sleaze.
‘death vs. dying’ is about her older sister being murdered and the thoughts that persist. Inspired by Max Graves’ Victim Impact Statement, our narrator finds herself stuck reliving a decade-old trauma: the murder of her older sister. This is the first track.
‘death vs dying’ was the tone-setter for grimdark,” says Egbert. “I have a hard time writing from a place of anger, but the exercise of writing for a fictional character opened that up for me. It probably won’t surprise you to hear a trans woman say she’s got a lot to be angry about. In finally feeling that anger for myself, the record poured out of me.”
CATHERINE EGBERT ON ‘death vs. dying’
‘killer bees’ is screamo and exciting. The guitars come in like a right hook. The texture of the screams is perfectly abrasive. This track is solid punk with its exposition of some of the realities of the trans life experience, visceral expression… and a smidge of chiptune.
I reviewed single and short film soundtrack ‘onlooker’ already and from then to now, it is one of my favorites.
The title track ‘grimdark’ is a tender one. It reminded me of the teenage love you see in movies. Like riding your bike all the way to their house just to talk to them through the window and, eventually, the externalization of a heart in the middle of breaking. Go watch it the animated video for it and experience of the album while you’re at it.
UPCOMING SAOIRSE DREAM SHOWS w/ Estelle Allen
4 Nov – Paris, FR @ FGO Barbara
11 Nov – Bristol, UK @ Loco Klub
13 Nov – London, UK @ Signature Brew Haggerston
15 Nov – Manchester, UK @ Rebellion
17 Nov – Glasgow, UK @ Mono
20 Nov – Dublin, IE @ Daylight
21 Nov – Belfast, UK @ The Barge
Find saoirse dream on bandcamp | instagram | youtube | soundcloud | apple music