Deer Songs by Shelby Obzut

A white-hot emotional core struggles against impenetrable layers of mist, reaching the other side scattered, dimmed, but no less intense. Similarly, the slowcore of Deer Songs by Shelby Obzut (available on Spotify under the name mentalt syk) presses its fiery passion under a dense web of signal processing, a move which ironically invigorates the cathartic performances. Strained vocals drown in cavernous reverb, complementing frantic guitars flattened by crunchy distortion, all of which crumbles under the weight of lo-fi tape fuzz on the master. However, closer examination yields over-the-top playing that screams tragically for our attention from behind a concrete wall, drawing a sharp connection between these alienated sounds and the speaker’s failed attempts at being emotionally understood. From within us, misunderstood emotional energy lurches outwards empathetically, forcing us to recognize the parts of ourselves that we struggle to understand, unpacking the layers of signal processing between our minds and our hearts.