Typhoon Cuts Through Your Humanity in a 12-Song Paragon of Existentialism
4.6 out of 5
Sympathetic Magic, the newest album from Portland-based indie-rock band Typhoon might very well be one of the most intimate and personal albums I have ever heard.
Lead singer Kyle Morton seems to be writing about incredibly tragic or deeply emotional happenings through the perspective of an idle mind confined by quarantine and driven to expel it upon paper and through music that becomes increasingly melancholic.
The lyrics might be the most poetic I have ever read/heard, and that’s not something I say very lightly. They are really that good.
Whether talking about the death of friends and family or how insomnia riddles him or how time stalks him, Morton clearly conveys not just his inner thoughts, but the expressive feelings of dread that come with facing and dealing with them.
This album is a little different than other Typhoon albums, but it also has a lot of the same elements as previous ones as well.
This one differs in the fact that there isn’t an overarching concept to the album other than the observations and insights of both inward and outward human existence.
Like some of the more recent albums, this album has a scaled back version of instruments where some songs seem to only have a few notes from one or two instruments repeated somberly.
Sympathetic Magic seems like a soundtrack to a tragedy, and that’s because it pretty much is.
Turning to politics and the American turmoil in 2020, the album ends with “Welcome to the Endgame” which is not a skewering of who’s wrong or right, but it’s more of a reflection of “how did we all get here, because we all got us here” type of logic.
There’s nothing about this album that should be taken lightly, but the musicality, melodies and instrumentation lend itself to easily be listened to even if you had no idea what the songs were about.
The album is very enjoyable and accessible, and it is clear that the band has established themselves as a contender for a breakout year in a sea of great new albums and artists putting out music after a year away from their fans.
Watch the videos for the singles “Evil Vibes” and “Welcome to the Endgame” for yourself, and see what you think about this album.
Typhoon - “Evil Vibes”
Typhoon - “Welcome to the Endgame”