Mr. Cogito and the Question of Autonomy

AmCyc_CorinthDo you want to experience a simulation of the vibrant/volatile emotional texture of an existence in which most events precipitate states of intense joy or incandescent anxiety or seething anger? Depending on your answer to that question, you may absolutely love the Hotelier’s new album, or you may wish to merely dabble in it. This is music reminiscent of early & mid-00s stuff that showed up on the mixtapes exchanged by the brooding, the overwrought, the passionate, the sullen (myself included), e.g. Saves the Day, Piebald, Juliana Theory, Gloria Record, Braid, Jets to Brazil, which is all maybe not quite canonical emo, but close to it. Much like Into It. Over It.’s recent record, the Hotelier’s (great) album doesn’t so much recreate that era’s music as it does nod to it on its way to doing something else. This record is mostly bright and optimistic: a summer spent outdoors; drinking beers in the park; an unexpectedly pleasant road trip; you catch the fireworks from a hill way up above town; you find peace in everyday pleasures, the ones you used to take for granted.[BUY Goodness]

A new causality

The sea clips amorously