Drowse: Light Mirror

In April of 2018 Drowses Kyle Bates left his home in Portland OR for an artist residency in barren northern Iceland. Much of Bates time there was spent in self-imposed isolation giving him ample space to ponder the nature of solitude and what it means to be closed or open to the world. Upon returning home Bates worked obsessively. Maya Stoner his longtime creative partner sometimes came to sing but recordings were mostly done alone. The dichotomy of his Icelandic musings materialized in a very real way as he neglected his personal relationships in favor of his art. While he was confronting his life-long fear of intimacy and reconciling himself to a diagnosis of Bipolar 1 Bates found that the means he employed to conquer these obstacles-self reflection through art-carried with them an equal measure of misery. Light Mirror Drowses second album for The Flenser is a subtle exploration of these contradictory attitudes and their consequences that can be heard as an artifact of sonic self-sabotage.Light Mirror falls within a lineage of overcast Pacific Northwest albums think Groupers Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill but finds Drowse pushing past its slowcore roots. The albums prismatic sound reflects experimental electronic noise pop black metal krautrock and more through Kyles distinct song-worlds. The lyrics are ruminations on the idea of multiple-selves identity paranoia fear of the body alcohol abuse social media the power of memory the truths that are revealed when one is alone and the significance of human contact. They were influenced by filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky and poet Louise Glck who both address self-contradiction. Mastered by Nicholas Wilbur Mount Eerie Planning for Burial at the Unknown the album showcases a striking maturation in sound. Light Mirror is Drowses most intimate and desolate work to date.

1.1 Imposter Syndrome
1.2 Between Fence Posts
1.3 Shower Pt. 2
1.4 Bipolar 1
1.5 Physical World
1.6 A Song I Made in 2001 with My Friend Who Is Now Dead
1.7 Arrow
1.8 Oslo
1.9 Internal World
1.10 Betty
1.11 Dont Scratch the Wound


H 0.19
W 12.29
L 12.35