pwsn ii - poorly wrote suicide note: Review

Review by Lav:

poorly wrote suicide note is a New York skramz project spearheaded by musician Ashley Pearson. She only debuted the project last year and yet the music impressed me as soon as I heard it. Even in an increasingly dense world of great skramz releases I loved the pure frenetic anguish and blistering sonic palette of her self-titled debut. That extended onto a split with bright little stars that followed a few months later. Even within the world of lo-fi bedroom music Ash seems to be releasing music at an incredibly fast pace and shared the albums second project right at the start of 2024.

One thing I'll say right out of the gate against the record is that I don't find many of the shorter tracks, interludes, intros, and outros all that compelling. Occasionally it's something I can really find myself enjoying on a record and heightening the experience but here I think they tend to separate me from the hyperactive emotional viscera the project serves up on its best tracks. 

Speaking of those best tracks let's talk about them. captive bolt gets the record off to a great start following a sampled intro. I love the clipping ends of instrumentation that have such a churning lo-fi grit to them. It's even better when paired with the anguished vocals which feel like they have to fight just to be heard at all. Another huge highlight is specter with girlish lead vocals that contrast perfectly with the distant wailing screams slotted in behind them. It has one of the glitchiest and most fried instrumentals on the entire album which I really appreciate. 

respite is a paralyzing moment on the record that grabbed me more and more every time I heard it. Fittingly, it's a quiet respite from the layers of noise and yet it cuts deeper than any other song here. Saving the screamed backing vocals for right after the song's most cutting lyrics are delivered is a perfect choice and the emotional payoff is excellent. I've also come around to winter song a track that feels like the most densely layered arrangements on the album. Even though those lo-fi layers still sound paper thin by design they're textured in a way that really starts to add up as the song blasts through its separate portions. 

pwsn ii ends off with something I never expected and something I don't think many other skramz artists would attempt. shed your skin like leaves on autumn trees is a massive, emotionally dynamic, multi-faceted, 17-minute grand finale. I think it's the kind of grand gesture that many in the lo-fi scene would try and avoid and yet it spawns some of my favorite moments on the album. Between the wiry screamo early in its runtime to the long ambient/field recording portion and finally the acoustic guitar folk finale each of the portions are impressively distinct and what they come together to assemble still feels cohesive. 

I can't exactly say the album as a whole feels cohesive though. in the pasture is sharper and more shrill than a lot of the other songs early on the album largely due to its electronic tinges. While the trick of all the instrumentation rushing it at once is a nice blast to the face it doesn't really translate into a full compelling song. Speaking of electronics though, that's kind of the saving grace of secret you died with. The song features some more conventional rock guitar and feels closer to screamo proper than the sheer delirium of skramz. I don't find the song all that compelling, at least until the electronics kick in which is a lot later than I would have hoped. 

pulse and jibberish stand out for having a silly demeanor baked into their DNA. The actual text of the song doesn't exactly back that up but the sound does. The vocal sample that ends the former and starts the latter feels narratively in the right place but the mood is WAY off. That translates into the songs too especially jibberish whose nonsensical synth flourishes and wiry guitar noodling feels like a huge diversion from the rest of the album. 

For me, the core of pwsn ii is strong. It has all the foundations of brain-scratching soundplay that I love from this genre and songwriting that sets up emotional moments just like the project's debut last year. Unfortunately, I think some of the auxiliary moments fail to reinforce that core in the way they should. Despite that I'm really looking forward to what poorly wrote suicide note does next. On ii Ash proved her willingness to take the style and presentation of skramz to places that others wouldn't and those moments are some of the biggest payoffs the record has to offer. 6.5/10