An artist making an unexpected stylistic swing may, at times, feel a bit forced or uneven. With charliecityy’s new album, "In Another Life," he is ditching the bright hyperpop almost completely and venturing into an introspective journey into alternative indie. Recorded entirely in his university bedroom in solitude and late-night sessions, the record is fresh, personal, and honest. Merging acoustic textures, processed vocals, and reduced production, "In Another Life" is an achievement that feels like the very soundtrack one might find themselves listening to after a sleepless night of self-reflection.
At only nine songs long, the album is concise and cohesive; however, it carries unlimited emotional weight. The Birmingham-born and Liverpool-based artist, charliecityy strips everything to the bare essentials.
He opens with "Flashback," a punchy acoustic start. A contemplative transition lays the backdrop for charliecityy's haunting vocal performance. His voice, just subtly processed, hovers over the mix and captures the pang of nostalgia.
"Mirror," a high point, affords the token a few moments of introspection. The instrumentation is spacious and serenely lovely, piano chords twinkling peacefully shimmering away while the rhythm section feels as though it conducts its heartbeat. His processed vocals effectively countenance.
There's a reason why the fourth single is called the "denial" track, one that adds a decidedly experimental twist to the album. Things kick off with glitchy fragmented beats that feel erroneously chaotic, while layers of reverberate-soaked vocals are washed over lifted synths: a hazy background tone that evokes an emotional freefall. A daring, almost disorienting moment that sets the pace of artistic fearlessness on the record. Appropriately named, "Heartstrings" plays with your emotions, threading melancholy and some measure of hope through a plaintive script. Gradually swelling and layering harmonies and textures until released euphorically into gentleness. Urgent breathing of scintillating synths and layered harmonies propels this one.
The title track drips is built around a looping acoustic guitar riff, the song feels like a farewell letter. charliecityy's vocal lines are harmonized and layered to yield a choir feel that’s expansive. Imagining a parallel universe where things did not have to work out this way, the lyrics come out resounding with peace.
"In Another Life" is a magnum opus with a compelling debut that places charliecityy firmly on the map. Almost entirely produced by charliecityy himself, yet never screams "bedroom project" in the slickness of the final cut, the emotional weight is hard to ignore.
charliecityy carves a space for himself somewhere between Frank Ocean's emotional vulnerability and MK.Gee's boundary-breaking approach to genres. This record blows my mind. It's so rare to hear something that touches so close to home, right in the gut. You need to stream it so you can take it with you long after it's over.