DELUJN (vol. 1) by Shuyler Janson: EP Review
DELUJN (vol. 1) by Shuyler Janson: EP Review
/ˈsiZH(ə)n,ˈsiSH(ə)n/
nounTECHNICAL
- The action or state of cutting or being cut.
Did you know this word? I sure didn’t! Throughout my subconscious time travel across the millennia, my comparatively young brain was first exposed to this mysterious word when I was a young child. And if you have never heard of it, you have Shuyler Janson to thank. ‘Scisson’ is track 2 from his brand new EP DELUJN (vol. 1). Is this the only takeaway from this album? Why, hell no!!
You’ll love the network of glass tubes, beakers, flasks, and graduated cylinders replete with concoctions of unsynchronized rhythms and sounds that whiz and whir in the opener ‘Ride in Chains’. Envision Janson singing to you from behind his precariously assembled mad scientist laboratory rig. The trilling of a Farfisa or Vox Continental sizzles throughout those connector tubes to reinforce his messages of foreboding. A twangy, heavy-gauge, and low-end guitar line is his steadfast lab assistant, appearing and disappearing. Another pulsating molecule of synth and guitar sounds is the heartbeat of this song, blinking and flashing throughout! It takes you through to the end of the track where Janson warns, “And you’ll crush each other just to stay in the game”. Wise words from Dr. Janson from behind his protective goggles!
The four tracks on this EP all offer a colorful, multi-layered, and intricate display of intriguing reverberating sounds woven throughout. They are all well-balanced and very easy to digest. This is not an easy feat of engineering and mastering for sure. And the end product is hypnotic. There are hints of New Romanticism in this work as well. However, lyrics undermine the escapist nature of this genre, as in a couple of songs, they illustrate seemingly toxic relationships:
So I’ll ride out once more toward nightfall
I will forget you if I keep my world small
These are wise words to anyone just trying to stay the course!
If you are a fan of Stephen Merritt and Magnetic Fields, this EP will slide easily through your aural canal. You can tell that Janson listens attentively to a lot of music, and this album appears to be well-researched and meticulously crafted. It is out now!! You’ll love it!
Antonio La Fauci
Riffindots is Britta Pejic. Britta is a musician. Songwriter. Artist. Foreign Language Teacher. Grew up in Maine. Lived in France (The Basque Country). Now back in New England. Enjoys getting lost. Makes a lot of songs at home, puts them into a canister, then into a hatch and then through her own pneumatic tube system under the Atlantic. The songs are vacuumed out the other end, dusted off and polished by Console Lole, her loyal sound engineer back in Basque Country. It’s a system that works well for her. Follow @riffindots for cartoonish fun and visual mayhem or simply enjoy her music here: https://brittapejic.bandcamp.com/.
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