‘Come In’ , the debut album by Weatherday, is an unpredictable array of sounds and styles woven in such a way that is nothing short of chaotic and affecting.
Stream: ‘Come In’ – Weatherday
To boil down a record into terms of simple genre is to do the record a disservice. Sure, these terms help to establish a frame of reference in order to give the listener some expectation of what they are going to be experiencing, but it’s never that cut and dry, is it? Albums and artists and bands are all influenced by something or someone who was influenced by another something and another someone to the point where it would be seemingly impossible to clearly, and absolutely, establish what kind of music a modern artist is creating.
True, while some influences are easier to spot than others, things get really gray when an artist pulls from a multitude of sounds and styles that further erode what could conceivably be a clear definition of genre. As it just so happens, Weatherday’s Come In is a great example. Is it a noise pop record? Maybe. Is it a lo-fi indie rock project? Without a doubt. Are there elements of post-90’s/current emo revival scattered about? Indeed there are, and this only tackles a brief portion of what this album has to offer. This album is case and point enough that artistic labeling is a truly futile endeavor.
Come In is the debut album by Swedish musician Sputnik (released in April last year) or, in this case, Weatherday. Over the course of the album’s eleven songs, Sputnik covers no shortage of musical territory, as has already been overstated, starting with the very dynamic and very appropriately titled opening track, “Come In.” In keeping with very appropriate and relative themes, the album, and opening track, start with the sound of a door being knocked and a voice inviting someone to “come in.” After this brief exchange of formalities, the song wastes no time and bursts apart flooding the listener with bombastic drums, an uncontrollable guitar, and an overwhelmingly frantic and distorted lo-fi energy. The music, for all of its chaotic tendencies, compliments the lyrics and Sputnik’s delivery of them, which starts unfazed and calm leading to a gradual unhinging.
I’m still here
I’m almost floored
Poorly drawn
Hope you’re bored
Weather day
I’ll be here
Hope you stay
So come in
– “Come In,” Weatherday
he next two tracks, “Older Than Before (Oswald Made No Way For Himself)” and “Mio, Min Mio” begin to showcase Weatherday’s knack for exploration and penchant for sudden stylistic changes. Both songs make their way through moments of fuzzy indie rock and balladry which lead them to moments of dreamy pop vibes downbeat atmospheric indie rock, and even classical piano passages. Whereas track four, “Sleep in While You’re Doing Your Best” sounds like it would be right at home next to the likes of 90’s staples Braid and The Promise Ring, with its slinkier guitar and synth highlights. Things, unsurprisingly for Sputnik, take a noticeable change at the halfway mark. From this point, Weatherday takes the track in a more pensive, textured direction emphasizing sound, space, and harmony as opposed to the more vibrant energy that the song was initially imbued with.
Why am I alone in your bed
She distanced herself too much
Now she will always sleep in
Leave without locking the door
Cause she has no key
Leave a toothbrush
Pretend she forgot it there
Embarrassing herself
– “Sleep in While You’re Doing Your Best“, Weatherday
Approaching the halfway point of the album might seem like a logical point for things to sort of even out and be given some breathing room, but Weatherday has the opposite in mind. Coming in at track five, which is close enough to being halfway on an eleven-track album and long enough to be half of an album itself, Weatherday presents “My Sputnik Sweetheart.” If this was a more analytical piece, then the argument would be made that this track is a collection of musical ideas, movements really, that when combined create the whole of the track. At just shy of fourteen minutes long this would seem like the most practical way to break down this song, and there is a lot to break down in this song, more than what could be done a service in as brief of a review. Lyrically, the song traces mournful and somber lines about losing control, fear, feelings of being stripped bare, and terrifying vulnerability. For example, ‘You let yourself lose control/ And wanting to feel more/ You can lie down like a skeleton/ Bones in view’
Went along again and I can’t beat myself up enough over it
I can’t please myself so I resort to pleasing you
Now that my rib cage shows I’d love to rip it up for you
There lies my organs like a maze down to my heart
Should you find yourself within arms reach I’d close myself up again
You’d have my heart and I could never see you again
Musically, this piece is incapable of staying in one place for too long. The song starts with a thin, yet contemplative guitar that eventually opens up to a passage that is emotional, though stagnant. Repetition for effect is the essence here. Roughly four minutes in and things settle, only to make way for the bass to take the lead, the guitar to become more focused, and the vocals to harmonize in unified pitches. The remaining ten minutes truly need to be experienced: lo-fi and explosive indie and emo elements, electronic and synthetic glitches, and a choral passage that sounds like it was recorded in a cathedral. That kind of choral passage. This song might take some dedication to sit through if minute length is any source of intimidation for the listener, but it is truly a journey worth experiencing.
Taking a quick sojourn to the back half of the record finds Weatherday tackling more expressive and emotive opportunities with songs like “Embarrassing Paintings (Agatha Showed Great Initiative In Art Class This Week.” The piece opens with nimble and flighty piano passages that give the intro a sort of swirling flow while being stabilized by what sounds like an upright bass before opening up, if only so much, into a blend of dramatic builds, percussion rolls, and guitar. The song comes back down with a lulling mix of synthetic instruments, bass and drums, further highlighting Sputnik’s broad creative sensibilities. By contrast, “Agatka (Agatha! You’re Being Melodramatic!)” seems to be one of the few songs on the album that starts, travels, and finishes, with a somewhat clear and cohesive compositional line. Certainly the song is not without its moments of exploration and creativity, with its harmonies, vocal layerings and soundbites, but it does seem to be one of the more ‘straightforward’ pieces.
The album closes much the same way that it opens, with a hailing of frenetic energy and bombast on the track “Porcelain Hands.” This song is a burner form beginning to end, save for the middle where Weatherday manages to work some more of their melodic, contemplative dexterity. What’s more, this song makes musical and lyrical callbacks to the opening track on the album, giving the album as a whole a satisfying circularity; an idea that has come full circle.
At the risk of doing this album any injustice, this might be the appropriate time for closing thoughts. As it stands, after multiple listens, the boiling down of this record presents itself as an even more aimless pursuit than when this all, the review and initial listenings began. Rightfully so. What Weatherday is doing on this record is a fantastic example of allowing multiple artistic directions to weave within and throughout the record without marring the piece as a whole, let alone letting the album get out of hand. All of this is not to suggest that “>Come Inis being made, however, is that it is more than worthy of a conscientious listen.
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Come In
an album by Weatherday
