New York-based trio Occurrence bring into existence an expansive, immersive, and sentient universe of sounds in their album ‘Slow Violence’. Ken Urban (electronics), Cat Hollyer (vocals) and Johnny Hager (vocals) wield the magnetic power of their chemistry to craft this 22-track album, each song a world of its own, with stories and aural elements that evoke a deluge of emotions in the listener. With each track rooted in atmospheres of synth, shape-shifting electronica terrains and pop infusions the music also finds newer, genre-bending directions to flow in, making the journey through the album a deeply intriguing, stirring listening experience.
The opening track of the album, ‘Blossom Forth’ takes you into a bustling world of wonder and fear, with a thumping rhythm for a heartbeat. Synth takes many forms in this one, with vivid hooks, harsh spreads, and pumping tunes. The singers’ vocals are twisted, transmuted, and distorted into stunning melodies, haunting echoes, and ethereal harmonies. The song sets the stage for the exuberance and frisson that is about to unravel.
From the vast, wonder-inducing soundscape of ‘Universe Moves So Fast’ to the sharp, metallic fuzz textures of ‘Fudge’, we are exposed to a vast range of textures and tones, just three songs into the album. ‘Survive, Die Faster’ drastically shifts in character, this world more vibrant, with an upbeat and dynamic rhythm and lush, heavier synth melodies and motifs. However unique and distinct each of these tracks are, they also fit into each other like puzzle pieces, each having its own color and pattern, yet the edges stitched together so seamlessly, with the music flowing into one another like river into ocean.
Occurrence ensures that their songs contain a wide, diverse, and rich ecosystem of sounds, where influences that are both classic and modern in the electro-pop genre cohabit in harmony, and yet behind the apparent complexity of each track, which may seem overwhelming at first, there is a simple, captivating design that harbors meaning and emotions to be deeply felt.
Through the middle, from ‘Everything I Had Then / Slow Violence I’, ‘Love Is Love (Until It’s Not)’ to ‘The Remote Past Tense’ Occurrence craft highly experimental soundscapes that are decorated with profound themes and emotional explorations. The music becomes a medium of ingenuity, creating unconventional and nuanced rhythms, synth melodies, and singing styles.
As we approach the last few tracks of the album, the soundscapes get increasingly vulnerable, both in emotionality and the lyricism, allowing you to confront emotions both bright and murky, softly and intensely. ‘Dissolve’ brings a slow-building landscape that grows into a majestic crescendo of melody and meaning, consuming you in its grandness. ‘Godwound / Slow Violence III’ brings a more hyped, rapid flood of synth textures and pounding beats, oscillating between thrilling sections and ominous interludes. ‘Prepare My Body for Sleep’ the final song is a celestial, soul-lifting experience, this soundscape is a calm, endless ocean of radiant melody that makes you feel as if you are ascending into higher planes, towards blissful oblivion.
Occurrence have extracted every emotion from the expansive spectrum of human feeling and forged them into one album, ‘Slow Violence’, an epitome of sonic abundance, one that establishes that music is limitless. Listen to ‘Slow Violence’ by Occurrence here!
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