If you're leaping off the edge of the world.

I've hit on one theme a few times throughout the writing of this blog, but I'm beginning to come to a little bit of a conclusion about this record. Instead of being a record that pushes boundaries in the pursuit of presenting an altogether different theme, PLT is a record that pushes some boundaries, but largely in an effort to find out what boundaries are, why we have them, and to figure out how far we should push them. This pursuit is occurring not just at a lyrical level or musical level, but all over and in different ways.

On a vocal level, Cam tends to exaggerate his already idiosyncratic voice and pushes it into gravelly territory. It's a test of the limits of what we consider singing. Even more than that, the album is peppered with tribal chants - ay ay ay woot woots and boom dadadadas. What are the boundaries of melody in Western culture? They serve as a nice counterpoint to Cam's singing as I think that people largely consider his vocals on this album to be irritating and not very musical, whereas the chants are catchy and welcome on most songs despite the fact that they are less rooted in our notions of song than the foundation of Cam's work. As a result, we start to see a firmer delineation of what makes sound equal to song in our culture.

Musically, AiH push this album past different boundaries, too. They rely much more heavily on synthesizers, drum machines, and electronics in general on PLT and I think that serves as a test. AiH sounded much more organic on their last album. I'm not trying to imply that there were no keyboards, synths, drum machines, etc. on the last album, but they were used less severely and openly. "Red Turned White" is an extension of the thought behind "Frenchy I'm Faking" from the last album. It pushes the synths to the forefront and harshens the rhythms and sharpens everything. Is it still enjoyable? Is it still a likeable song? I think so, but that's the test. Is there a boundary that we have crossed? Moreover, the electronics aren't just present to a higher degree in rhythmic structures and melodies, but in creating new sounds that test the same border between sound and music. "Red Turned White" features bottle rocket sound effects, lazers and other foley effects folded into the mix that is the driving backbone of the song. "Hold Music" has a similar breakdown just after the two minute mark. Are these sound effects music just because they exist in the song and make up part of its form?

AiH even look at the question from a lyrical perspective. I already talked about "Heart it Races" in depth, but there are similar moments throughout the album. One of the most poignant comes at the end of "Red Turned White" when the statement is made that "you've got the wrong idea if you're leaping off the edge of the world". They are figuring life out and wisely state that the best way to find your limitations and boundaries is not to greatly overreach them, but to push up to their edges and see if you can expand them. As much as we would like to be able to take great steps the world doesn't work in that way. We build on old work and move forward incrementally. Boundaries can't be removed, but they can be moved.

In a sense, AiH prove their thesis by trying to take an enormous step. The album isn't a failure, but it certainly isn't an unqualified success.