Tirzah “trip9love…???” Album Review

trip9love…???

Tirzah

• Genre: Alternative
• Date: 05 Sep, 2023
• Content: Not-explicit
• Track(s): 11
• ℗ 2023 Domino Recording Co Ltd

Tirzah’s latest masterpiece, Trip9love, is her third studio album that has already taken the music world by storm. The album was surprise-released digitally on 05 Sep 2023 and will be physically available on 17 Nov, released by the prestigious Domino Recording Company. The talented Mica Levi effortlessly handled the productions of Trip9love.

Tirzah Maston is a fun-loving English singer and songwriter who gained notoriety with the release of her cult-classic album Devotion in 2018. Maston is known for her hushed, imperfect, experimental pop, which she creates with the help of her childhood best friend and creative partner, Mica Levi. Her second album, Colourgrade, added a layer of tenderness to her understated style. Her cosy love songs began to change, with delicate vocal runs replaced by uneven spoken word, and melodies about infidelity and distrust turned into odes to relaxed domesticity. The production work on her music became more intricate and unpredictable. On Mastin’s latest album, “trip9love…???”, Levi breathes new life into the sparsity of previous albums, using stuttering snares and grit to give it a unique heartbeat.

Album Art

The album’s cover art showcases a mesmerizing portrait of Tirzah as she confidently delivers her soulful performance into a standing microphone. Dressed in a stylish brown shirt, Tirzah’s poised and graceful demeanour captures the essence of her artistry and music.

Tracks And Features

The album’s opening track, “F22,” portrays the singer and the person she addresses as they try to understand each other amidst the bleak sounds and difficult circumstances. The mood is intentionally dark, not in an obvious way, but by creating shadows with a light source. The sadness is not overwhelming but is present throughout the song. The track’s structure features a repetitive loop that emphasizes the effort of trying and persisting, similar to other songs in the album that also use this technique to explore further stories.

The song’s structure features a repetitive loop that communicates a feeling of perseverance and determination. This theme is consistent throughout the album, which employs similar techniques to convey narratives of recurring pain. On “Promises,” notice the subdued instrumental countermelody that weaves in and out of Tirzah’s vocals. The percussion intermittently drops out, creating a moment of stillness as Tirzah takes a breath following her children’s chant-like chorus.

In the song “Today,” the 808s are initially faint in the background until Mastin transitions out of her moaning chorus, and the bass drops like a room lined with blown-out speakers. The virtuosic piano introduction in “Today” can luxuriate for four eight counts before the drum loop ensnares it. The downward, dizzying notes become the backdrop for Tirzah’s looping lamentations. The songwriting is incredibly evocative and intelligent.

The piano loops in the music enhance the tension between the profoundly intimate and faraway club atmosphere of trip9love…???. The notes from the piano can either resound like a pianist with a foot steadily pressing the damper pedal in a high-ceilinged concert hall or feel tight and tactile. On the track “Their Love,” simple piano melodies are reminiscent of a beginner piano student’s fingers moseying around an untuned keyboard. However, the original soundscape is disturbed when foreign clusters of erratic and muddled notes bang against it. Mastin sings empathetically, “Some bridges burn, didn’t you know?” elongating each third word into a rich melisma.

In the song “U all the time”, Tirzah Mastin sings about her grievances with a partner. She metaphorically points a finger and lists how she has been wronged, singing, “Telling me lies, taking up space, leaving me cold without a trace”. The song’s best section is when the key suddenly changes, and the mood turns trippy and foreboding. The frigid feel in these love songs is achieved through the repetition, reverb and delay of Tirzah’s lyrics, which don’t follow traditional song structure.

In addition to the skilful construction of each track and how they progress on Trip9Love, some remarkable musical moments stand out. Despite the contemporary overtones, a bassline or countermelody occasionally feels like a new wave. For instance, “No Limit” features a compelling garage-gone-goth energy. Throughout the track, composed of gliding, antagonizing hooks, Mastin delivers an urgent refrain: “What’s your limit?” A breakdown introduces a chintzy melody to break the track’s delicate aggression, and the percussion chokes before backsliding and disappearing altogether. Mastin concludes with a wailing vocal, with delay making the last word land like a new drum pattern. Tirzah contributes one of her most forceful vocal performances to complement the track.

“2 D I C U V” is one of the few songs on the album written in a primary key, although it is heavily distorted with fuzz and static. The song features two vocal styles engaged in a dialogue, almost an argument, which creates a sense of hope and questioning.

With its two-word lines rising and falling like stacked haikus as the piano rumbles in the lower range and a three-note melody prances on the other end, “He Made” is possibly the album’s most hypnotic song. The consistent dance floor pace of the album is dropped on “6 Phrazes,” allowing her vocal sketches from the Devotion era to come to the fore. The setup allows to hear her lips as they part to sing clearly.

The album concludes with “Nightmare”, a track that leaves the listener wanting to experience it again due to its chill vibes. The album is characterized by captivating and prominent drums that create an indulgent listening experience lasting approximately thirty minutes. Each track draws the listener in and immerses them in its world, with layers of ethereal and haunting production that eventually lead to the inescapable core.

Tracklist

NO	TITLE	TIME
1	F22	3:38
2	Promises	2:37
3	u all the time	4:12
4	their love	2:32
5	No Limit	3:02
6	today	2:44
7	Stars	3:20
8	he made	2:48
9	2 D I C U V	3:31
10	6 Phrazes	1:33
11	nightmare	3:02

Album Summary

Mastin and Levi, the album’s creators, have described their songwriting process as almost automatic. They exchange ideas, building them up together. The album “trip9love…” is an ambitious attempt to explore its theme and variations. It delves deeply into its subject matter, like a dog gnawing on a bone. Despite the wild nature of the sound, Tirzah’s music reveals itself to be some of her most beautiful work yet. One example is the beatless track “Their Love,” which could be interpreted as a tribute to all the doomed relationships in the world. Tirzah’s voice is filled with impossible grace as she sings, “Their love, only a dream, you know. They love, they lose.” Meanwhile, the piano trickles like water down a drain, adding to the exquisite anguish of the song. As the album title suggests, it raises more questions and pleas rather than providing clear answers. It’s like a maze of musicality and production, reflecting on the listeners differently.

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