Review by Paul D Houston
This dark, somber and deeply visceral 5 song ep is the creation of Emma Goldman Grey, a trans musician and activist residing in the Twin Cities, MN. Describing this debut ep in exact statements is a little hard for me. Its a blend of a few different things. Its downbeat, introspective, dissonant and...other things. The easy genre descriptions might be, Industrial and Ambient, as I believe enthusiasts of those genres might be the most receptive to this as it blends both genres together in a really pleasantly discordant way.
With numbing drones and lush whispering vocals laid atop a bed of noise and glitches, this ep is quite the effort for a debut project. With nodes of experimentalism meshed together with pleasantly somber rhythms, every song on this ep is a very strong and fresh effort. While the first song on the ep is possibly the strongest and definitely the most wistful, and sets the tone for the ep...
I did find myself liking the final two tracks possibly the most, particularly, "Scrutiny Under the Blinding Light". From an intriguing title to an intriguing song, I really dig this one...
As far as comparisons go, I am finding it hard to find proper ones for this ep. I would say I can hear the influences of Dead Can Dance, Psychic TV, Coil and Chelsea Wolfe in these five songs, but I am not sure those are the right comparisons, as this really is its own stuff. The overall production values are also a thing to respect. While Emma Goldman Grey does an excellent job with the compositions and the instrumentation on these songs, the final mixes are a superb production. There are no glaring mistakes and the obvious mastery, technically of this release, is itself a joy.
So, do yourself a favor and when you've finished with your chores and your habits and self-indulgments, pour yourself a glass of wine, take a moment to decompress and put this ep on and open yourself to the dark possibilities that this ep could bring to your mind.
Find this ep here at Bandcamp: https://daughterofdawn.bandcamp.com/album/crushed-into-dust-by-the-weight-of-the-world
and Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6QWENXefNVZi1Gxlw86PkR?si=y6f1X99ITN2QKTUW2q4YPA