If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Esteban Haga Alison Clancy moved from California to New York City with the dream of becoming a dancer. She became a dancer with The Metropolitan Opera, becoming a dance soloist in early 2020 for Wagner's  Der Fliegende Holländer . When the Met was forced to shut down in March, Clancy was introduced to Father Graeme Napier of St. John's Church in the West Village. She was invited to live on the church campus as an artist in residence, and recorded an EP as part of the project. The first song off that EP, "Mutant Gifts," features Clancy on vocals and electric guitar accompanied by cellist Brent Arnold. The song is an eight and a half minute epic that meanders its way around inside your brain. At times it's completely experimental, and at others almost mainstream. It's going to remind you of some of the members of Sonic Youth's more out there solo work, but with one foot planted in traditional song structure... at times. There are moments of the song...

A lot of releases are considered diverse, but Alison Clancy's debut release, Psycho Tyko , truly is. Originally from Nevada City, CA, Clancy now resides in NYC where she dances for The Metropolitan Opera and performs music with her band. The best way to describe her music might be that it's a more poppy version of trip hop, but that barely scratches the surface. You would expect any music described as "a more poppy version of trip hop" that includes synths and post punk guitars would be pretty danceable. And you'll want to dance to it, but you might not be able to figure out how to, exactly.  Her songs are filled with scratchy guitars and awkward, uncomfortable beats.  A song like "ET Phone Home" starts out like a pretty standard alt-pop song, but by the time Clancy's vocals kick in, the song has twisted into a dark corner that pop music never touches. "Tried2CallUButIDidntHaveUrNumber" is a post punk disco song that could almost get play...