She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She - Chelsea Wolfe: Review

Review by Lav:

Chelsea Wolfe is an artist whose music I've enjoyed for a long time, though I feel like I haven't gotten to review her at her best yet. I thought her 2019 album Birth Of Violence was just okay and though I enjoyed her Converge collaboration more it featured less of the hallmarks of Chelsea's music than her own material. That's why I was so excited for She Reaches Out which featured some of my favorite of her singles to date. The album that resulted is cohesive but still impressively distinct and the best thing Chelsea Wolfe has dropped in a long time. 

Describing the singles from this record as "good" honestly kind of feels like an understatement, they're fantastic. Lead single Dusk serves as the closing track and it's still remarkably good. I can't think of many other tracks that manage to be this chilling and occasionally obtuse while also being so irresistible and well-written. The album opens with another single I loved Whispers In The Echo Chamber. I love the contrast of the distant thumping drums and Chelsea's eerie whispers. When it all kicks off on the hook it's a dizzying chorus of distortion and reverbed vocals that I absolutely love. 

Earlier this year we got Everything Turns Blue the final single and another impressive one. It has one of the busier instrumental palettes on the record with distorted guitars that phase in and out and an eerie synth line that is completely irresistible. If there's a weak link among the singles it's Tunnel Lights which is crazy because it's still a solid song. The verses unfold a bit on the slower side and the instrumental doesn't grab me quite as much as other songs but when the rush of noise really starts to fill the space on the hook it's much more satisfying and the refrains on the chorus are great. 

One of the most impressive things about the record are the new sounds Chelsea is interpolating. While she's always dealt in spacious expanse this record deploys heavier shoegaze sounds and even some trip-hop influence, in particular Portishead. That all comes together on the excellent deep-cut House Of Self-Undoing. The song has an up-tempo drum beat and a much more dramatic vocal performance to match. Eyes Like Nightshade is another highlight that manages to stand out from the distorted haze with some strange little percussive and synth additions. Even though they don't fundamentally change the song I'm just amazed at how Chelsea manages to make the record sound so cohesive but keep most of its songs so distinct. 

Unseen World is one of the heaviest moments on the album but it doesn't start that way. The track blasts into a chorus with subtle but perfectly placed strings backing it. What really gets me with the track is that it's all set-up for yet another even more impressive eruption later on the hook that indulges in a fully dizzying sonic haze. One of the biggest lyrical highlights on the album is The Liminal. It's pretty reserved sonically compared to much of the rest of the album but the lyrics about craving the liminal and leaving your exoskeleton behind is supremely eerie. 

The most Portishead-flavored song on the album is Salt but unfortunately beyond an interesting sonic array not much about the song grabs me. I have similar issues with Place In The Sun. It's the album's de-facto ballad and a break from the dark murmuring walls of distortion and cave-like space. What really bothers me about the track is the lyrics which don't really build up the same momentum as the instrumental and the payoff is just an ultra-generic use of flying as a metaphor. 

She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She is my favorite Chelsea Wolfe album in a LONG time. Her complete reformation of her sound alongside changing her label and her producer allowed her to re-emerge with a creative expanse as wide as ever. The album is consistently sonically pointed but as always Chelsea herself is a highlight. From her eerie and abstract lyrics to her range of whispered to harrowingly dramatic singing the album lives and dies by her irresistible mysticism. What results is an album that lives up to the very high expectations I had from the singles, and had me thrilled for where she may go next. 8/10

For more Chelsea Wolfe check out my review of Birth Of Violence