VANISHING ACT II: ULTIMATE REALITY - Clarence Clarity: Review

Review by Lavender:

Clarence Clarity is an electronic music producer and vocalist who first broke through with a surprise underground hit in 2015's No Now. That gave way to a sophomore record called Think: Peace in 2018 and eventually part 1 of Vanishing Act, an EP that dropped in 2021. Simultaneously Clarence has continued to produce for a variety of other artists like Dorian Electra, HMLTD, Sundara Karma, and most notably, Rina Sawayama. Now his long awaited 3rd studio album has arrived 6 years after its predecessor and three years after the EP it's serving as a sequel to. The record dropped with no singles, so there's really no choice other than to dive right in.

Where to even start with this record, the beginning I guess? The first half of this record is pretty standard Clarence, and it's a god damn banger factory. You have to get 4 songs deep into the album just to find a track that reaches 4 minutes, which makes the opening salvo of the record a dizzying affair. "What Year Is This?!?! JFC" and "ALLATONCENESS" are two absolute bangers to get us started. THe former hits with sunny blissed-out synths and sugary sweet vocals that Clarence can conjure like a machine. The latter brings utterly nonsensical but very attention grabbing lyrics and another classic Clarence earworm hook. It all concludes in a killer guitar solo finale feeling like he couldn't possibly fit as much as he did in such a short span of time. 

Speaking of those lyrics, this album had me running to look for more context. But Clarence has seemed pretty cagey about sharing details on what these lyrics mean. It may be a little presumptuous but I think this may be a break-up album, though if you're looking for juicy details keep looking. "even after all that we've been through" is the first to dabble in this, with a title alone that serves up curious questions. The song itself has a rumbling bassline and disjointed eerie keys with Clarence's vocals even more heavily manipulated than usual. The song drills it's point of disbelief in through entitizing repetition that manages to be informative while also incredibly catchy. 

The bulk of the thematic context of the record, or what subtle hints Clarence is willing to give, comes in the second half. "Rage Quitting, Quietly" features some of the record most spiteful lyrics which add a lot of credence to the idea of this being an impressionistic breakup album. The track isn't one of the most sonically punchy here but it's dramatic finale is a major highlight. That leads into the very strange "Old King, The World Moved On." While it's up to interpretation exactly what Clarence is saying and there's a million ways its series of short refrains could be manipulated, the lyrical work is still extremely enticing. I love the complete breakdown and slow built-up of these directional vocals in the second half that really bring something new to the record. 

Some of the deepest narrative context for the record come in its final two tracks, which also manage to switch up the sonic style of the album quite substantially. "Deepest Sea Regret" isn't nearly as dark as its title sounds, in fact, the second half is a triumphant victory lap after Clarence finds he's been proven right. That lap is full of catchy refrains and distant rattling drums that bring me right in. That leads us to the finale "Guinevere" a song that grabbed me in a pretty emotional way I wasn't ready for. After all of the hinting and prodding at subtler more abstracted points throughout the album this finale seems to represent a catharsis. It's a moment of finally letting go played out through cloudy keys and heavily manipulated vocals intertwined with these walls of stunning synths that just completely take the song over. It's such a dynamic and emotional mix and such a subversive yet strong way to end the album. 

While the thematic moments come and go, almost every song on the album is a sonic highlight. "To Be A Bat serves up a consistent lyrical theme of bats and biting but what it's actually trying to say is completely beyond me. Sonically though it's packed with literally boings and wiggly synths the back, say it with me again, extremely catchy refrains. "Playing Our Parts" brings back a weird kind of 2000s R&B influence that has popped up on Clarence's songs before and I absolutely love it. But in the second half it switches lanes completely to a much more pummeling blown out instrumental that strips everything back to set up these peaks of intensity around these fun churning guitars. 

If the record does have a slump, it's around the midpoint. But the album moves too fast and features too many masterfully composed soaring sound palettes to ever really be a bore. "The Greatest Living Musician, Found Dead" has individual parts that each sound amazing, but how they come together is a bit of a question. In the mix, however, is a great hook a complete time out right in the middle of the song, and a genuinely dizzying amount of instrumentation balanced together like a stack of fine china. Additionally, there's the also hilariously titled "juliano so cute lowkey" which may be my least favorite song on the record. It sounds a lot like several other songs here but the refrains just don't jump off the page in the same way and while the mid-song beat switch is great, the pitched-up vocals rob it of some of its intensity. 

But wow, Vaniishing Act II is another slam dunk from Clarence Clarity. It maintains both the frenetic experimental electronica of his debut album but also the sunny irresistible hooks of his second. Despite the fact that it's been 6 years, he sounds like he absolutely hasn't missed a beat. What results is a record of lively bangers that support each other perfectly and add up to a constantly shifting 38 minutes of sonic bliss. Even as unt6angling what much of the writing here actually means in a practical way, Clarence is still a vivid writer wrapping fascinating metaphors around irresistible repetition. This is exactly the album I was hoping for from Clarence and most of these tracks are sure to stay in my rotation for the rest of the year, and probably a long time after. 8/10

For more electro-pop read my review of Porter Robinson's Smile