Pathways
A new pathway for The Birthday Massacre?
Qobuz: https://open.qobuz.com/album/nnbnt2041e60a
Tidal: https://tidal.com/browse/album/419323515?u
It has taken me a bit of time to get properly acquainted with Pathways, the latest release by The Birthday Massacre. First, there is a lack of the colorful, poppy synth sounds of many previous albums, especially Fascination, their 2022 release. I pre-ordered the LP, and my turntable setup is much higher quality than my digital setup on my component stereo. So, I’m listening to the record right now, and it has a lighter, bigger, more open sound than if I were streaming or playing a downloaded track. One thing to note about the LP: the copy I have arrived absolutely free of dust. I bought an album from Deutsche-Grammofon that arrived with some dust, and it has crackles. Pathways does not have any crackles at all. That’s rare in an album, and I have hundreds of LPs in my library.
Beginning with “Sleep Tonight,” the mix seems a lot drier and starkly darker than previous albums. The overdriven electric guitar churns away on open string metal riffs, while synth strings are faintly in the background. There is a nod to the time in which the album finds itself, in the form of a very digital-sounding synth, low and like something from dubstep. The rest of the synths are mid-range heavy in their EQ, and blend with the scooped-mid guitar EQ. The more I turn up the volume on this, the more the bass comes through—the bass of the synthesizer. As usual, the LP on my system sets up a wall of sound (wasn’t that the name of a now-defunct record store?). The cymbals are sizzling, even the hi-hat. I’m using my solid-state, class-A preamp to drive the three class-A power amps in my active-tri-amped stereo system. This produces more, harder hitting bass than the tube preamp I have. Using class-A amps may take some of that power out, however.
Continuing into a track with a compelling chorus that is repeated quite a lot, “All of You” highlights Chibi’s clean, soaring vocals. There is chorus in the guitar, making it sound as if it’s out of tune (that is to say, it’s a certain type of chorus effect, and there is a more analogue-sounding synth that plays some low notes. Another analogue-sounding synth plays mid-range notes, and then a sparkling, bubbling, glass-like synth comes in over everything. There’s a lot going on in the instrumentation, and it has taken me a while to really sit down and listen closely, rather than listen more casually while driving a car. And yes, this second go-round (I’m finishing each song with a second listen’s impressions), the synths come through more colorfully. The soaring chorus of “All of you, in spite of me, unravels. Far beyond the reach of time, a love forgotten” is repeated for the entire song, as the lyrics are few here. I would guess the song has 100 words or fewer.
“The Vanishing Game has more synth than “Sleep Tonight,” or, more synth that reminds me of TBM’s previous synth-heavy albums. There’s a quality to Chibi’s voice on this album that is less poppy, and the absence of lots of love songs is notable. I don’t mean to speculate as to the intentions of TBM in their choices on this album. I love their love songs. I find myself reminded of classic jazz tunes, where love is sung of in the past tense, and where past love affairs are reflected upon as they disintegrate or from a distant, more mature perspective. I hear more of the sing-song in this on a second listen. I bob my head without thinking about it. I sit in a kitchen chair, at the sweet spot in front of my toed-in tower speakers, laptop on my thighs. I enjoy this album a lot at this higher volume—though I’m not blowing the doors off their hinges.
There is a sweetness to the title track (“Pathways,” track four), and Chibi’s voice is more full-bodied and gentle than it sounds on the previous tracks. There seems to be some hint of cheerfulness in her voice. There is more sonic space on this track, too. It’s well used. It’s a reflective song. The emphasis is decidedly on the downbeat on this track. There’s a synth that had me going—I thought it was the bass guitar! It is not. I enjoy albums, such as Aphex Twin’s 2014 Syro, that have a definite climax and relaxation in a sing track somewhere in the middle. For me, I find the title track of “Syro” to be that peak and release. Likewise, Pathways peaks and releases for me on “Pathways,” the final track on side A of the LP.
Side B opens with a hard guitar, drum, and bass slam, as “Whisper” begins. The bass has a realistic texture/timbre—almost twangy. I think I can name the vocal quality that is missing from many tracks on this album: there seems to be much less complex vocal inflection on Pathways than on previous albums. It’s a colder album. In any case, for whatever reason (I don’t say I get things right all the time)—and there is more than one way to interpret this music—I find it to be a stark contrast to Fascination. The opening sounds less hard on a second listen. I hear Chibi harmonize with herself here and there on this track, this second, higher-volume listen. The driving power chords on the guitar really come out. Chibi does some wicked demon whispering here, too. I think it’s processed a bit, but I can’t say just how. Listening at home, on the turntable, at higher volume, is allowing me to engage fully with this album, and I hear more timbral subtlety in everything—in Chibi’s vocals as well as the entire instrumentarium (yes, that’s a word, I’m happy to say, though I may be using it in a non-standard way, since I am not talking about surgical instruments).
The track that stands out to me the most, the poppy “Wish,” has synth like that of previous albums. And Chibi harmonizes with herself—that’s another thing that’s largely absent from Pathways, that was present on previous albums. It isn’t clearly a love song, but I think it is a song of longing, as indicated by lyrics such as “Is anybody out there? / I’m wishing on a star tonight.” This time through, at high volume (this track is louder than the rest, I’m pretty sure), I really find myself engaged with the music. My whole body is chair-dancing. I think it may be the only time I’ve noticed clean (that is, not overdriven) electric guitar in TBM’s music. The synth is like that from some earlier albums, particularly (though not blatantly) their take on “The Neverending Story” theme song.
“Faces” opens with a heavy stomping, which quickly softens as Chibi comes in, her voice more inflected and colorful than on most other tracks. This is a guitar-heavy track, and the bass is deep and real. Synths hold sustained notes or chords. The drums are simple. I find the lyrics on this album resonating less with me than do many other song lyrics from previous albums, for example, “Stars and Satellites” from Fascination. On a second listen, I hear the contrast in use of space, between the previous track, “Wish,” and “Faces.” There are open spaces, though the track is anything but sparse.
The final track feels like a summation of something. It’s a beautiful song, more complex than “Faces,” and Chibi’s voice is much more articulate and permeated with nuance. One of the male singers does some work as well. There’s gentler everything: drums, synths, guitars, vocals, are reminiscent of Fascination, especially the Def Leppard-like, palm-muted single-note lines on an electric guitar with delicately calibrated effects, which is a common device on the two albums prior to Pathways. Chibi also doubles herself and overlaps beginnings and endings of song lines. I hear some clean, chorused guitar as well, playing arpeggios in a creative way.
I generally don’t rely on looking up “official” lyrics of TBM’s songs, but the words, “This imitation is the cruelest kind of love,” was a passage I just could not hear clearly until I looked at the lyrics written on the album’s inner sleeve. The song dwells on this passage, repeating it and parts of it many times. It’s a cypher to me. Maybe reading through the lyrics will shed light.
Happy Listening! :-)
Great analysis of the album. I love this band!