The fluid and collaborative nature of Beauty In Chaos means they are experts at pivoting between sounds and styles. It is fair to say that they always keep one foot in the broad rock realm, but as the other dances deftly through adjoining genres, they naturally make their own everything from industrial sounds to gothic anthems, hard-edged fist-in-the-air groovers to more dreamy soundscapes.
And it is in the latter that we find them with their latest single, “Hollow.” Their own tag of “goth-gaze” is perfect for the sonic potion they have created here – part darker, pathos-filled sounds, part cinematic grace, the two realms dovetailing together with perhaps unexpected fluidity. (Unexpected if this is your first time in the company of Beauty in Chaos.)
The song is grand rather than merely anthemic, cinematic to the point of being ethereal. It is the sound of dream-pop being enticed through a rock and roll filter. It is full of energy, but that force is dispersed across a drifting soundscape rather than used to suckerpunch the audience, as rock and roll usually sets out to do. It is cool, cocooning, and comforting.
Cynthia Isabella’s vocals are the perfect finishing touch. They are a blend of poise and power, part vocal prowess, part voice-as-instrument, adding a layer to the music that is merely about sound rather than the usual direct communication, though of course, it is that too.
Michael Ciravolo, the creative lynchpin and captain of the sonic ship, is the Kevin Bacon of the music industry in that you can play the “Six Degrees of…” game with him and end up in some unexpected places via his impressive industry connections. (I won’t bore you with the hows and whys, but with this song, I got from him to Zola Jesus in about three moves.)
Anyway, back to the song. It’s as simple as this – sonically beautiful, creatively bountiful, simply brilliant.
Signs In The Heavens Reality Upside Down deluxe double CD
Bandcamp
Spotify
Children of the Revolution / Open Your Eyes video
Dancing With Angels album
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