Freedom Doll by Abyss X

In our mission to bring a wide array of new underground music to the forefront, we talk a lot about balance as a marker for a project’s effectiveness. Generally, interesting projects emphasize the artist’s creative ability to display variety, depth, and restraint when needed. That being said, it is extremely satisfying when a project so deftly aligns its musical expression and its thesis in the way Freedom Doll does. Abyss X is an experimental pop art project created by Evangelia VS– a Cretian performance artist with strong creative and cultural ties to ancient Minoa. Boasting a wide vocal range, Abyss X compellingly mixes the ethereal and sensuous, starting off with a couple moody guitar-driven tracks that almost skew indie singer-songwriter until they build into the dark club banger that is “Torture Grove.” This pacing continues throughout, with Abyss X building confident intensity before stepping back into minimal, considerate tension. Two tracks feature spoken word poetry by Juliana Huxtable, whose voice becomes haunting and intimate when backed by twinkling piano and soaring synth chimes. The album’s freely emotive danciness is accompanied by lyrics portraying the complicated nature of feminine sexuality. Pressure, ecstasy, and power are displayed in a spirited combination of moments that channel the most challengingly introspective parts of Solar Power with the most intense and carnal parts of Born this Way. - Carrie