Entry 198 - w u s o 命 - Hold it Together

 

My descent into dreampunk was a rather interesting one. Early on I found 2814 and other classics, but it took me a while to really dive in and find some real gems. Hold it Together stood out immediately and remains one of my favorites in the genre.

Wuso bills himself as cinematic dreampunk, and I agree. This is a visual musical style, an urban musical style: almost romanticizing the lonely city lifestyle into a musical soundscape.

Side A is exactly what I want out of dreampunk. Four tracks that blend in together seamlessly. The styles range from a slow build in the first track to some twisted form of EDM on Suppression. Throughout the entire side a brooding sense of suspense is building, yet it never truly resolves. This gives the music a muted sense of urgency that is hard to describe with words.

Side B stands in contrast to side A as a collection of individual songs. These range from a straight up continuation of side A on Deep Breath, to some almost hopeful chords on both Ride Home and Retire De L'Enfer. The sense of urgency that was ever-present on side A is lifted a bit on the two middle tracks here, only to come back full force on the album closer.

While Hold it Together doesn't have as much popularity as Birth of a New Day I contend that it is equal in quality. Every one of the 30+ minutes on this album is excellent, and its hard to do better within the genre of dreampunk.