GABA

Sometimes in music, it can feel like nothing's ever changing. Specifically in niche corners of the music world, like the ambient and vaporwave scenes, it can feel like everything that is being released is merely a recycled version of something that came before it. For this reason, it can be difficult, or otherwise impossible, to derive any new or interesting experiences from it. I don't mean to sound like I'm lying or overexaggerating when I say this just because I know Chris personally, but I genuinely feel that what is delivered in "GABA" is an experience that I've rarely, if ever, had before. The extraterrestrial becomes a disturbingly real reality as the opening track, "GABA 0.1" makes me feel as though a UFO is hovering outside my house, but instead of being the starting point of an exciting, crazy adventure instead gives off this feeling of unbelievable dread. It's foreboding, in a way. It makes me feel small and insignificant in comparison to the great, vast universe that surrounds me that I can never fully understand, makes me feel the same subtly nightmarish fear that I felt as a kid when I knew something bad was about to happen but didn't know what. To use an example more relevant to my life at this time, it's the kind of atmosphere that gives off the same confused paranoia to me that I feel whenever I watch a David Lynch movie.

The second track here, "GABA 0.2", is a bizarre, abstract oddity. Beginning off simple and faint, with a sample of the powerlines from "Serial Experiments Lain", the track quickly pulls you into its odd soundscape, with its inexplicably forlorn and depressing atmosphere being contrasted with these odd sounds that crash into each other and glitch in and out of the mix. It's a sound that shouldn't work nearly as well as it does, it should feel poorly constructed, should sound really muddy, but it doesn't. It all works, it all fits like a puzzle piece. The sounds of a grocery store, the wires, the crashing sounds that glitch in and out, it feels simultaneously depressing and lonely, and almost otherworldly, in a sense. It also sets the stage perfectly for the last track, "GABA 0.3", which is, in my view, just as isolating as what came before it, if not moreso. If every track on this album were to make me feel like the most insignificant spec in the universe, this track is what did it for me the most. I've mentioned space a lot in this review, and I can't help but to reference it here again, as the ethereal, odd atmosphere of this record is one that can only really be viewed in my mind as not being of this earth, even if I know that it is. This track, to me, feels like standing alone on another planet, looking up at the sky, at the stars, the moon, and the earth that is now so far out of reach and that I know I could never go back to, no matter how badly I may want to. It's almost cathartic for a moment, as though an angel were by my side, there to comfort me, but that awful feeling of dread washed over me once more, almost drowning out that initial feeling.

This isn't just writing or things that I made up in my head either, I actually felt my chest getting heavier and that feeling of dread wash over me over the course of this track's runtime.

Needless to say, I am unbelievably impressed with this project. For a debut album, it's nothing short of fantastic, showing the potential and unbelievable talent of an artist that I know is going to go far. It's rare to see such a focused vision come about on a debut record, and even rarer to see it pass with flying colors in the way that this album did. Once more, I know how biased I probably look saying all of this, but I promise you I am not being biased towards this project in any way, and I hope that my rating of a 63 on "Previews II" is enough to convince you of the genuine leap in artistic quality, vision, and effort that I feel was represented on this album. If you don't want to give this album a listen I understand. It's a bit long and my recommendation can only go so far, but if you're looking for something in the music scene that is exciting, fresh, and unique, I genuinely think that you need to look no further. This album isn't doing anything all that experimental in terms of the techniques used for its creation (outside of the second track anyway) but as an experience, I haven't really heard anything else that's made me feel quite the same way as this. I can't really compare it to anything else, the closest I can really come to a point of comparison is "camilla" by deadmau5, but even that feels like a stretch. This is likely my favorite album of the year so far and it's one that I'm going to be thinking about for a long time. If any of you were made even slightly curious about this album based on my descriptions of it, I implore you to try it out for yourself and see what you think. I'm kind of blown away by this, honestly.

STREAM
https://chrisjuarez.bandcamp.com/album/gaba