SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: DEUX VISAGES – CALL IT GOODBYE

DEUX VISAGES
CALL IT GOODBYE
PURE NOISE RECORDS

Coming-of-age stories are both nuanced and universal. We all have one. The perennial struggle for identity that has graced everything from classic literature to the silver screen. Growing up is a compelling muse that inspires just as greatly as it challenges. Deux Visages capture it all with expert precision.

Call It Goodbye, is Deux Visages’ debut LP, 11 tracks that chart the band’s journey from Miami to Philadelphia with pain, uncertainty, excitement, and unwavering sincerity. Deux Visages released three singles for this release; “Always You,” “Automatic,” and “Pixelate.” These tracks are a great introduction to a distinctly heartfelt record with steady build ups, spacey guitars, and poignant lyricism.

“Always You” is a knife to the heart masquerading as a love song. It is an exploration of hopeless devotion and a love letter to the worlds yearners. This track combines indie rock with surf guitar and dreamy vocals. The steadfast beat provides a background of certainty to a piece infused with instability and isolation. “Always You” is a cathartic expression of moving on that has its listeners both screaming it in the car and staring to it melancholically at the ceiling.

Though this album is rife with brilliance, highlight tracks include “Behind,” “Fleeting Wishes,” and “Missed Calls.” “Behind” stands out as an indie rock anthem with big choruses and vocals from Daphney Hanano that scream of emotional release. “Fleeting Wishes,” touches deeply on themes of childhood acting as a sorrowful lullaby to the end of an era. Hanano sings of dandelions and wishing on candles, delivering the pivotal line “I hate change”, a lyric that defines this album completely. “Missed Calls” is a song for the messy parts of growing up, an ode to putting on a façade and having it slowly fall. “Missed Calls” speaks to feeling lost, to running away, and the insatiable need to belong somewhere and look the part.

It is clear from this album that Deux Visages are masters at their craft. This LP is a thoughtful piece of storytelling that, when listened to from start to finish, takes audiences on a rollercoaster of emotional highs and lows. There isn’t a track on this record that feels out of place or obsolete. This record is one that feels unabashedly honest and it is this, which makes it such a compelling coming-of-age work.

The past is inescapable and oftentimes painful. Coming-of-age stories are a contemplation of what we do with the past and the difficulty of moving on from it. Call It Goodbye is a refusal to linger in the sadness. It is a declaration of independence from the things that hurt us. These tracks belong in a coming-of-age film and are sure at least, to soundtrack more than a few coming-of-age moments in the lives of their listeners. Call It Goodbye is a joy to listen to and a reminder that parting is a thrill and the future is bright.

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