by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
Essential Aliens, the 10th album from Jason Albertini’s long running Helvetia project should be a momentous occasion. Yet, the themes of the record are essentially the opposite of “momentous” due to the fact that the album comes from within the pandemic days, a record about monotony and isolation. This is exactly where Helvetia is at their best though, transporting you from a dull reality into something that feels pulled from another dimension, a strange and alluring haze, one where the weight of our world is present, but feels lighter.
Essential Aliens, due out June 25th via Joyful Noise Recordings (Tropical Fuck Storm, Lou Barlow, No Joy), is a record that processes the restlessness of the times and warps it into something layered, a lucid dream that loops and shifts. Helvetia’s brilliance once again lies as much in Albertini’s songwriting as it does in its tonality and production choices. The pinched warbling and stretched tape sounds are a signature of the band’s sound, lifting slow-dripped depressive tendencies into a cosmic space. These are weird times and Helvetia are here as our weird comfort.
Following the fuzzy perfection of first single “New Mess,” the band are offering up “Rocks on the Ramp,” the album’s centerpiece, a song that feels stripped back but ornate in design. With the lightly skipping drum shuffle a constant presence, the song marries together what could be described as a misleading energetic pulse and an otherwise tranquil atmosphere that’s as patient as they come. The vocals are delivered in a near mumble, mixed in as more of a texture more than a statement, but never resigned as an afterthought. This is the sound of crushing anxiety in a context that refuses to be defeated, turning monotonous weeks (and months) into a vision of endless creativity.
Speaking about the track, Albertini shared:
"I’ve been kind of a head case this last year. Like most people probably. With the isolation and monotony of being at home all the time. A helpless dread. I tried to capture this feeling of going a bit mad, literally and figuratively. I’m dressed up as a ghost because that’s how I felt."