This album makes me want to give up altogether on learning to sing.

Raised on a diet of classic rock and, of all genres, HAIR METAL, I missed out on a lot of the interesting music trends from the late 90’s and 2000’s. Of course I could take that statement in any direction: the golden age of hip hop, the evolution of death metal as it became more jazz-infused, the beginnings of what would end up being every American’s favorite band, the winner of the “Music That Aged The Absolute Best of Any Music Ever” award (of course I am referring to Nickelback here.)

For now, I would like to discuss the wonderful world of art pop created by, mainly, female artists. Fiona Apple, Tori Amos, PJ Harvey, Bjork…you get the idea. These (mostly) women came along and created sounds that really did not exist previously in the world of popular western music. Sometimes I have difficulty putting my feelings on this style into words. The dense lyrics create a fascinating rhythm, thumping along to an often sparse arrangement. Lyrical subject matter ranges greatly but has a clear identity in touching on subject matter that is often considered a bit too “real” and “dark” for the masses. The piano often enjoys the spotlight, but not in an Elton John sort of way. We often think of the piano as a quite melodic instrument, capable of incredibly complex harmonic structure, but these musical pioneers explored more of the percussive elements that can be achieved with the instrument.

It’s kind of funny that I spent a full paragraph talking about brilliant women in music considering that Fern Enley, writer of *takes a deep breath* “in the anti​-​rhythm there are still so many melodies: in the multitude of melodies; several, subtle, rhythms”, is not a woman. After all, musical creativity is not bound to gender, race, religion, etc. Creative people inspire creative people. “in the anti-rhythm…” forges onward down the path that “Fi-Ap”, Amos, and crew cleared first, offering more contemporary “2024” textures and ideas. Synthesizers are the primary (non-vocal) instrument here, with percussive parts tossed in as little easter eggs for your ears. The glass-shattering effect on Kutesugi is a particularly nice touch. Again, though, the instruments are essentially the window accents on a mansion made out of vocal performances. At times a capela (see Celtic Queer) and, at others, a bit more traditional in the keyboard / bass / drum format (see stand-out tracks like “Table 4 Won” and “Omnonscient”) the vocals are CLEARLY the focus, which is much to this album’s strength.

What really separates “in the anti-rhythm…” from so many albums of its kind is the attitude in the vocals. Oddball songs like “Alien. Nation. of Communication.” and “Cult of Information” end up being huge successes because I am fully bought into the vocal performance. Too many artists are unwilling to get a lil’ weird with their performances and instead try to maintain a “professional” presence, which is often fairly wooden and boring. That is not an issue here. “Beetle Bye” has to be the ultimate example: a track designated for thanking the people involved in the making of the album, performed in a rural West Virginia (?) accent. Is it a bit cheesy and over-the-top? Sure, but that’s what makes it fun! Imagine if Fern had just read off their “thank yous” in a “normal” voice. How boring!

I urge anyone listening to give this album a full listen, front-to-back with 100% of your attention. If you need a little taste first, then I recommend my favorite part of the album: “Don’t Mockingbird” right into “My Body is Christ”. If you need to be convinced that “in the anti-rhythm…” is a vibrant, unique production filled to the brim with character, then these two tracks should do the trick.

Well done Fern! I fully enjoyed this album, and I am super excited to start digging into your other works.