Album Artist: Folie
Album Name: 123!
Release Date: March 25, 2021
Record Label: Dog Show Records
Genre: electronic, experimental, hyperpop, I couldn't truely define what this album is if there was a gun to my head
Where To Listen: Bandcamp, Apple Music
I felty like switching thing up a bit so today I'm gonna talk about 123! by Folie, another one of my favorite albums, I'm gonna go through this song-by-song because I think covering the album as a whole would be a bit too complicated... Our first song is 123!, this song is a bit of an experimental idm track, it's not the greatest thing on the album but it really sets the stage with its glitchy rhythmic synths that remind me a bit of what it sounds like to convert raw data into an audio format, it's a bit chaotic, but it still holds its structure. The next song is clean2*, this is hyperpop as God intended, the instrumental is hectic, the vocals are almost interlegible, and it's perfect, this is sincerely one of my all time favorite songs, it's so hectic but it holds its form very well. I have yet top meet another person who enjoys this song, and I do understand why, it is not for the average listener, but I still feel that it is very underrated, it's just a very iconic track, I also highly suggest watching the music video created by the amazing Harrison Wyrick and Parker Davis! Up next is shewontcrash, which is a more calm song that allows the listener room to process the absurdity of the previous track, it's has a more traditional hyperpop sound and has an overall sweet vibe that I really like. Up next is lost the project file, which is more in line with the glitchy idm that could be heard on the first song of the album, 123!, although it has a more consistent sound up until around half way through the song, when it switches into a more slow hyperpop sound, it has an almost unnerving feel to it that really fits the overall sound of the album. the following song, asdfdas2345%$#@#$, is more in line with an intermission, it is a noise collage of various glitchy synth noises, but I feel will be appreciated by any noise music fans who may be reading. Though I haven't listened to much of his solo work, it reminds me a bit of what I have heard from the noise musician William Hutson. Next up is squeaky squawk, which is an experimental hip-hop track featuring Aaron Cartier, it's got a really hard hitting beat and Aaron goes absolutely crazy with his vocals, another absolutely amazing song. It's followed by crooked mouth emoji, a hyperpop track with a more mellow sound, the emotion behind this is a bit somber, and it speaks to a part of me that not many songs do, like clean2, this songs sound is very iconic and I feel sets a standard for any songs like it, and I feel like it is the most defining song of the album. And finally, the album closes with the song 4am insomnia, crying, it is very in line with the sound of the previous song, but is much more fitting for a closer to this album, it has an almost comforting sound that serves as a very beautiful and fitting finale. Thus the album comes to a close, this album is a real gem of the hyperpop era and has a truly original sound, there's never really a dull moment when listening to 123!, I highly suggest it to any of the music freaks** who may be interested
*for those who may be curious, the song CLEAN is found on bean boy's album Parsing The Noise, which will be covered at a later date, and a new version can be found under their new alias 0khz titled 0khzCLEAN0khz.
**in this context "music freaks" should be interoperated as a positive statement.