Dryleaze Marching Band by ally st. ives

All albums externalize the thoughts of an artist, but the record we’re talking about today functions as a full-blown exorcism. Dryleaze Marching Band by ally st. ives sends us on a fuzzy, noisy, orchestral journey through some of the darkest experiences imaginable. Abstractly tracing the arc of abuse, this record begins with these hauntingly warm tones, sounds that hold you in a loving embrace even as you know that that embrace will imprison and stifle your soul later on. Shifting abruptly and frequently from glitchy electronic sections to acoustic instrumentation, from ear-damaging noise to barely audible tenderness, this collage-like record slowly introduces feelings of doubt, suspicion, and resentment. Eventually, ally st. ives strips their sound of everything but digital noise, cryptic field recordings, and blood-curdling screams, before leaving us on a bafflingly beautiful and uplifting tone. Finally, our narrator breathes freely, liberated from the shackles of the abusive embrace and relieved of the emotional baggage that the music bears in their place.