“A withered stump among the leaves”
Songs About The End is a debut EP from Dispassion Turn, a solo project occupying the well-trodden crossroads between post rock, shoegaze, alternative, and emo. The record comes at a welcome time, as many acts now work to blur their lines, a fitting trend for atmosphere-focused rock music.
Overture and lead single “Still Here” starts with gently blissful drone, guitar, and vocals, glimmering like a tribute to Neige, Alcest frontman. This is quickly snaps into full drive with an extended instrumental, where quasi-riff-solos chart the course in that ‘delayed overdrive’ style – leads becoming a milky tapestry and hammering beatdown. It’s this intense volume that Dispassion Turn mostly operates at, but things don’t step into heavy metal territory. The vocals reinforce this, either delivered softly without shyness, or sung with enough energy to almost break.
“Technicolor” appears two tracks later and follows a similar structure: a quiet opening that becomes a heavy rock section, with non-linear instrumental passages and sporadic vocals. It’s not all progressive structures, as “If” delivers the catchiest hooks on the EP, in the form of post punk-y lead guitar riffs and a fist-bumping, belt-worthy chorus. There’s even an unapologetically brash guitar solo (a term of endearment amongst these genres, where indulgent solos are oft considered the territory of “dad rockers”). Album closer “While True,” is a bit different to the rest, counterpointing distant, overdriven guitars against a relaxed beat and sullen vocals. It builds gradually over its whole length toward an outro of many vocal harmonies.
The fourth song is a cover of The Hotelier‘s “Soft Animal“. This track is a great choice, coming from a modern-classic emo act, demonstrating Dispassion Turn’s intentions to make anthemic yet vulnerable music. “Soft Animal” is somewhat a deep cut, which may also turn out well for Dispassion Turn, as The Hotelier are enduring scene-darlings whose best-known tracks might, for some, be too holy to cover at this point. At any rate, it really shines in this newly shoeglazed form, though its song writing and vocal harmonies are a slight sidestep from Dispassion Turn‘s own approach.
What might let down many first-time releases is the production, but this couldn’t be further from the truth for Songs About The End. The guitars feel natural and chime-y, familiarly “shoegaze” yet not doused in reverb, and the bass has a lovely presence in the mid-range. The drumming is spirited, and the EP delivers sufficient grit to land all the heavy moments. Fair comparisons might be an off-the-beaten-track Astronoid, high-octane Duster, or a less soupy, post-2020 Deafheaven. It’s certainly an uncommonly good result given the context, and another good reason to follow Dispassion Turn‘s career.
8/10
Songs About The End is out now, and you can purchase the record here.