Frances the Mute

I wanted to make sure I gave this an appropriate score so I gave it, a "few" listens and I'm honestly still torn with what to give this, my heart wants to give it a 10, but I feel there are parts that don't deserve a 10, anyway onto the review. I love this album, I've been listening to it nonstop really and I can't get enough of it, thanks to @knewnie for bringing it to light.

I've decided to include the title track with this review, as it was meant to be on the album, it was only removed so it would fit on 1 CD, so really it should be on here, I've decided to make it track 1, so before Cygnus as I feel it works there, but it works as a closer or opener, epilogue or prologue, either way, let's go. The album starts with some glitchy noises, for around 3 minutes, which can be quite jarring, but don't worry it is worth it, at around the 5 minute mark we get an explosion of sound and vocals, and we get the fast paced, punky sound this album is full of.

Now on my first listen of the album I listened to the Spotify version, so I obviously started with Cygnus... Vismund Cygnus, which starts off slow again, but explodes a lot quicker than the title track, and I knew from then on I would love this album, and guess what? I did. I'm gonna go through this review with title track being a sort of track 0, as it's up to you where you'd want to put it. Either way, moving on from there, this whole album is just ear candy, it goes from being heavy and overwhelming to quiet and unsettling. 0 to 10 in an instant. This album is around an hour and a half almost (including title track) but does it feel that long? Not at all, it almost flies by, this album is so fucking quick it feels like it bends time.

Now this album also has a story behind it, it is a concept album, the plot revolves around a diary that Jeremy (one of the band members) found in the back of the car. The album itself revolves around the main character named Cygnus who is a drug dealer and is adopted, he is trying to find the truth behind his mother's death, before eventually going on a genocidal rampage over it. That's a very brief synopsis as the story is quite rich and, even I haven't figured it all out, but that's what I've gathered thus far, either way, the story adds a further layer to this whole thing, starting slow before ending with something completely unexpected yet foreseen, especially considering the title track foreshadowing a lot of the album's events (which is why it can be seen as either an epilogue or prologue). This album is really well written, and I also love the interpolation of Spanish at certain points, to portray further character, this is especially prevalent in the song L'Via L'Viaquez, which is mostly sung in Spanish, as it's told by Cygnus about his aunt, who witnessed his mother's murder, the song is sung in Spanish (I assume) to portray his origins, and to feel more personal to Cygnus.

Overall this album is full of utterly gorgeous moments that make me just orgasm from my ears, now there are weaker points, but fuck are they overshadowed by the good points, weaker parts here are the beginning of Miranda That Ghost Just Isn't Holy Anymore and parts of L'Via (probably a hot take there), I feel this album still has opportunity to grow on me further. While writing this also, I've been debating on what to give this album, and you know what? Fuck it, this is a 10, I love this album.

I know I need to go through my 10s really, I feel some (well one) doesn't hold up too much anymore (it's Age of Adz btw) so I may change some ratings.

Favourite Tracks: All of them (including S/T)