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Mandy, Indiana | i’ve seen a way

Mandy, Indiana | i’ve seen a way

I could spend this whole post obsessing solely on this album’s cover art. The narrow hallway, the light spilling in, the jade tile flooring, and the reflection being cast. The warmth of the light straight ahead and cold interior I’m leaving behind. Is the ground covered in water or is it my mind playing tricks on me again? Perhaps just a mirage caused from physical and mental exhaustion…

Maybe it’s because I have only recently discovered Kane Pixels’ mesmerizing representation of The Backrooms (and equally exceptional series The Oldest View) but holy shit this artwork evokes everything those series make me feel in a single image. The overwhelming dreadful sensation of being somewhere you don’t belong, with the only way out being through. Or for some of us, just the everyday horror of being in a crowded space and the passage of time being our only savior.

Admittedly, I listened to this album once and kept it in my queue to revisit only remembering that I wished there was an instrumental version. I don’t know why, but I wasn’t ready for this album when I listened the first time. I don’t remember the context - most likely with cheap earbuds and other things on my mind - but I knew I needed to give this album a proper listen. On that proper listen I realized I had completely forgotten that the vocals were all in a different language, which must’ve been the foolish reason for my initial indifference. I had to double check this to make sure the vocals just weren’t being distorted since all of the song titles are in English, that is if we exclude whatever-the-fuck is going on with track 10 titled “(ノ>ω<)ノ :。・:*:・゚’★,。・:*:♪・゚’☆ (Crystal Aura Redux). But, the vocals are sang in French and my listening experience is better for it.

This sense of unfamiliarity with the sung language plays directly into the themes the cover portrays and further makes me feel like I’m an outsider in a sonic and physical world I have no business being in. My favorite thing to do with instrumental albums is to craft the story taking place, often with the help of the song titles. Relying on the song titles, my unfamiliarity with the language being sung, and the vivid imagery of the instrumentals, I have imagined a place known as “The Dirge” - a destination hotel with a club venue on the ground floor and a murky complex that stretches for miles laying below.

The album opens with the instrumental song Love Theme (4K VHS), which sets the scene of our protagonist’s rainy nighttime drive to their destination. This perfectly transitions to Drag [Crashed] which doubles as a cyberpunk inspired banger (the music actually playing inside “The Dirge”) as well as some shrill horns depicting that not everything is as it seems. Muffled distortions can be heard about halfway through the track before an all out vocal assault. Something has gone horribly wrong. I picture that someone or something has taken our protagonist against their will - the club beat continuing as their disappearance goes unnoticed.

Pinking Shears has been the most difficult song for me to plot. After putting more than enough thought into it I’ve settled on it merely being the moments where our protagonist is coming to and wondering “what’s going on?” Injury Detail is one of my favorites - the tempo is picking up and the protagonist is becoming more thoughtful and panicked about their predicament. They are wandering the dark rooms and halls that all seem to look the same. The song features a static noise that sounds like an old tv monitor - which represents the captor observing the protagonist’s every move and the perspective switching between these two characters. Mosaick follows and serves as an interlude of the protagonist giving up hope, growing more tired than they know they should allow themselves to be.

On The Driving Rain (18) we once again hear the sound of water and from the title I instantly make a connection to the albums opening. I imagine at this time the protagonist has passed out from exhaustion and are dreaming of their drive to “The Dirge” and their ordinary life before this nightmare began. 2 Stripe features vocals of varying tones - which I interpret as an increasingly aggressive conversation with oneself. They’ve been here for what seems like ages with no signs of escape. They are blaming themselves, feel like their sanity is slipping by, and perhaps hallucinating. By the end of their self-pep-talk they have walked themselves back from the edge and have accepted the situation they are in and are determined to leave this place.

Iron Maiden is the climax of the story which somehow features vocals that will make you do a double take to make sure they are not happening outside of your headphones. It is such an unnerving moment in the album that is equally terrifying and masterful. I imagine that the titular Iron Maiden is either the captor themselves or a humanoid creature with the sole purpose of keeping captives from fleeing - my preference lately has been the latter. Peach Fuzz ups the tempo again which I think serves as the perfect soundtrack for the ensuing chase sequence with the drums representing the protagonist’s footsteps as they are bounding down the hallways looking for - well, anything. The “fuzzy” static noise once again implies the captor is watching this play out.

The infuriatingly titled “(ノ>ω<)ノ :。・:*:・゚’★,。・:*:♪・゚’☆ (Crystal Aura Redux)” best represents the cover art of the album shown and described at the top of this post. The protagonist has seemingly done it, they have found a way to escape and are being greeted with the first natural light they have seen in days, perhaps even weeks. The haunting vocals sound cold against the warm instrumental - a perfect encapsulation of the journey traveled and the journey ahead. This leads perfectly into both the sadness and joy I hear on the album closer “Sensitivity Training”. At first I struggled to fit this into the story but the name helped me find its place - I now think of it as the epilogue. A therapy session retelling the events of what happened and offered strategies of how to cope moving forward, the protagonist’s life forever changed.

I am perfectly happy not knowing what the lyrics directly translate to. While this album does deal with some heavy topics through its own words, I like to imagine and refine my own story on each retelling/listen. The power of this album is how easily and vividly it is capable of conjuring images in your head. For me, this album is best described as a horror film put to record that can just as easily represent the catastrophic tale I’ve spun or the everyday dealings of anxiety. Mandy, Indiana have seen a way to invite others to their world and by doing so, I have as well.

Holding Absence | False Dawn

Holding Absence | False Dawn