Alice Merton – Visions (Paper Plane) (13th Floor Album Review)
Alice Merton‘s third studio album Visions is a darkly beautiful piece of her soul. Brooding yet uplifting, it’s deep and powerful, her most intimate album yet.
A continuation of the long, intense journey of self acceptance, heartbreak and determination. Alice is straight up and tells all of us exactly how it is. Merton has been making music for a long time and it really shows in her new album. Produced by Dan Smith, Jenn Decilveo, Paul Whalley, James Dring and Rich Cooper, the group traveled from London to L.A all the way to Iceland, where a lot of the creativity and idea for the album took place.
The first track Ignorance Is Bliss chucks us straight into the chaos, immediately we’re hit with heart ache, longing and that all too common feeling of being mis-understood. Driving drums cuts deep into our primal instincts and the powerful vocals lends perfectly into that.
Next track Coasting brings it to a more melancholic feel, one of searching and unrest. The progressions are wide and open, giving it a feeling of quiet wonder, an anxious excitement of not knowing where you’re heading or how you’ll get there.
Visions is a darker, gritter track. The emotions are deep and meaningful, the lyrics seem to be almost pleading with the melody, twisting around the guitars and leaking out onto the listener. There’s a real honesty in this song that I know many people will relate to.
Next track Cruel Intentions feels like an extension of Visions. It’s more rock forward with distorted guitars and a bit of a punk attitude. With a focus on expressing the frustrations towards those relationships that seem to suck you in and spit you out. This song is pushing those emotions outward rather than the inward feelings of the previous tracks.
I love the intro to Boogie Man, it’s edgy and messy, the riff is killer, the drive of this track is energetic and the melody will stick with you long after the song ends. Even though the lyrics aren’t something to just glance over, you can’t help wanting to dance to release all that pent up aggression. My personal favorite from this album.
Unlike the previous track, Mirage is totally focused on the vocals, they’re very forward in the mix and give that sense of standing on a cliff and screaming out to the sea. Alice’s powerful vocal performance on this track really drives the sincerity and patience of well timed extremes. Pushing the voice as far as necessary to get the point across. This track really proves the progression of Alice Merton‘s voice and you can hear the effort and determination she’s taken to evolve it.
Jane Street and On The Wire keep the album pushing ever onward, except you’ve taken a left turn instead of going straight, finding yourself in unfamiliar but exciting places. These songs feel more like that place than purely just sound. Dropping you right into the moment, letting you feel everything you’ve needed to without knowing. The synth sounding vocals on Jane Street and the fast, dynamic drums of On The Wire really help to mold this place into reality.
Next track Willow Tress In Tokyo is more striper back, with beautifully simple harmonies and expressive lyrics. This love song is just what you need after the chaos and storms we’ve just been put through.
Joyriding has us back in the passenger seat, not running or chasing, just in motion. Maybe the sea is beside you, or maybe you’re driving the highway at night, whatever it is this song captures that.
Landline feels like whatever this is, it’s over. The chords, melodies and tempo give us the feeling of conclusion, trying to hold on but everything’s slipping away. Maybe letting go is what you need to heal, and Alice lets us know that even when it feels impossible, there’s always something around the next corner.
Marigold is a gorgeous track, not overly complicated, not too simple, a perfect balance. One of those songs where you can’t think of a single thing it needs or doesn’t. Emotional and delicate, it has a calm and caring nature. It‘s the hug you didn’t know you needed after all this time.
The final track Treasure Island feels peculiar and otherworldly, like something in waiting. The odd time signature gives it a trance like waltz which pulls and pushes against our bodies. It has me thinking what it would be like to live underwater, letting the current take me where it needs to go. A wonderful end to an immense album.
In conclusion this album takes your breath, holds it, then just as you feel it’s all too much, releases it. It’s the most honest, beautiful and relieving breath I’ve had in a long time. This is what Visions had me feeling. Alice Merton has created a moment, an expression, a piece of her life which she so intimately hands to us. Throughout the album I felt I was always near the ocean, that it had secrets and answers that would help me grow, perhaps others have different “visions” so to speak, but I had a strong urge to sit and steer out at the sea, a feeling that not many albums give me. A definite album to let your ears and mind experience.
Lochlan Lewis
Visions is released on Alice’s own label Paper Plane Records Int. Out now
