I’ll stop short of out-and-out advocacy when it comes to exploring the effect that various forms of inebriation have on an artist’s creative process; but at the very least, it can be “pretty interesting” when we as consumers become aware of the creator’s brain state at the moment of creation. Aldous Huxley, for instance, obviously made waves by writing The Doors of Perception subsequent to his trip on mescaline…or, on the sober end of the spectrum, Chicago-based artist Brett Naucke reportedly composed some of his new album The Mansion as he was experiencing some crazy and borderline inexplicable things when he went to sleep. To hear him tell it, he “kind of lost his mind” as he was recording the album over the span of roughly two years.
Appropriately, then, the Chicago musician’s latest is said to contain “mind-bending sonic detail,” courtesy of some obsessively meticulous synth work, which was joined in places by vocals from Natalie Chami (Goodwill Smith, TALsounds) and viola from Whitney Johnson (Matchess). The Mansion is loosely centered around themes “based on a childhood home,” and it’s Naucke’s second release for the Spectrum Spools label, following 2014’s Seed. (The track titles from both albums convey a definite theme commitment, which is totally underrated in the music world, if you ask me!)
If you’re feeling adventurous, preliminarily affect your own brain state by listening to the track “Youth Organ” below. And if you’re feeling generous, pre-order the whole damn mansion here ahead of its March 9 release.
The Mansion tracklisting:
01. The Vanishing
02. Youth Organ
03. Sisters
04. Born Last Summer
05. Clocks In The Mansion
06. Century Mirror
07. No Ceiling In The Mansion
More about: Brett Naucke, Matchess, TALsounds
