SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: IRIS CALTWAIT – AGAIN, FOR THE FIRST TIME

IRIS CALTWAIT
AGAIN, FOR THE FIRST TIME
INDEPENDENT

Throughout the sprawling pop wavelengths and passionately performed tales of love and loss, Iris Caltwait spends the course of her 16-song debut LP reaffirming audiences about how powerful music conventionally associated with easy listening can be. With sonic moments that bring to mind the likes of Xiu Xiu’s Jamie Stewart, Caltwait progressively journeys through various mountains throughout these songs. Some songs are pristinely mixed and beautifully orchestrated pieces, with coherent structure that emphasizes their emotional gut-punch.

However, many tracks on this LP also experiment with production, and how alternative sounds can be utilized to drive a lyrical topic/piece of subject matter home. The most impactful examples of this can be found within “honey, baby,” and “PINHOLE.” That’s not to say that these tracks aren’t successful within their respective pursuits of storytelling or instrumentality, but instead, strive away from conventional pop sounds with heavily sensitive vocals and various swelling instrumentals briefly appearing in the background.

These observations are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Iris Caltwait’s ambition and songwriting personality on this LP. As the tracklist continues, the songs get progressively catchier. Caltwait utilizes her natural talent for pop hooks and infectious choruses to add an extra layer of entrancement, which becomes especially beautiful when voice-changing harmonics join the last half of many of these tracks. Caltwait unlocks a very niche and spiritual box throughout this LP that pop/electronic music has been attempting to crack since Laura Les’s solo work in the early 2020s; there’s a strong desire to look at the musicality of this LP through a sandbox-esque lens; the only limit to the sounds that can be created is Caltwait’s imagination.

On top of the ambitious imagination and progressive mentality, Again, for the first time, features a substantial amount of contemporary pop bangers, songs that wouldn’t feel out of place on popular pop radio stations. These songs are inherently remarkable, as they refuse to sacrifice any of their artistic merit while operating under these templates. “Spring Rush (a hot platonic subatomic crush),” underlines this point perfectly, as its booming chorus and bouncy verses make for an exciting intermission to the emotionally heavy narrative of the LP.

The last two songs seal the deal from this perspective, “shaky” and “Alchemy (Living Is Not For The Heart)” as they both feature highlights of vocal lines accompanying incredibly subdued instrumentals. These instrumentals are not lackluster, per se. Instead, they wonderfully complement the throbbing production during the chorus sections, where pop drums come barrelling in to fully round out the tracks. This essentially acts as the final nail in the coffin, cementing Iris Caltwait’s latest project as anything but brief and minuscule. It’s a peaceful, sporadically cacophonic, emotional, and insightful LP that makes a massive statement upon contemporary identity and how your life experiences shape the person you become. All of that aside, it’s just so incredibly catchy.

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