Let’s take a minute to talk about production.

Music production is, undoubtedly, an art. The right production choices and stylings will enhance the ideas being put forth by the musicians. Of course “production” can mean a lot of different things. Mixing, engineering, mastering, arrangement, decision-making… all of these tasks fall under the “production umbrella”. Of course certain important ingredients in the production recipe are often overlooked. Sometimes the engineering decisions matter less than just capturing a really good performance. Oftentimes we are tempted to add more and more elements to the song when, in reality, fewer instruments will make for a more powerful piece. You get the idea.

I truly do view production as an art. I also do not claim to be skilled in this art form; my own catalog of self-produced music is less than impressive from a production standpoint. Where I disagree with other musicians is taking the art of production and turning it into a science. Just as it is impossible to give music an “objective” rating, the quality of a song or album’s production is not inherently “good” or “bad”. We can argue about trends, tricks, and tips that, in our individual opinions, are more effective (and, of course, I acknowledge that certain trends tend to be more accepted by the masses.) My point is that there is creativity to be explored in production, and I do not want to see artists sacrifice a more interesting but controversial production choice for the sake of sticking with the status quo because it is supposedly “better”.

When I listen to “Let’s Forget Everyone Else” my opinion is clear: the production on this album is perfect. No, it is not the cleanest sound that I have heard. Far from it. In many moments it is noisy, chaotic, messy; the production quality reflects the music that it represents. The opening twenty-minute track “Where is The Golden Light?” is an encyclopedia of sound design. A lo-fi banjo kicks things off, sounding like a warped tape found in an abandoned cabin. As the track develops the music becomes noisier and noisier until the more conventional instrumentation is essentially absent, replaced by an ethereal wall of digital noise. Vocals come and go, appearing raw in performance and in sound design. Overall the vibe is clear to me: the artist is putting their heart and soul into this music in the most vulnerable way possible. Why hide that passion behind a clean, expensive studio sound? How would that aid the music?

“I Can See You”, the album’s third track, is somewhat more conventional. Do not get me wrong: the sound is still rough around the edges. But this tune is a good example of the intentionality of the recording choices throughout the album. As the drum beats close out “Telephone Eyes” kicks in with an acoustic guitar and reverb-soaked vocals. The ending of “Telephone Eyes” is particularly haunting and beautiful and possibly the best 30 second sound bite to represent what this album accomplishes. “Look Into My Eyes” is one of the more hopeful-sounding and whimsical tracks, demonstrating the range of emotions and styles that are represented on this impressive album. Synthesizers show up in songs like “Innocence in The Past Tense” to prove that, yes, this album has serious range. What, you didn’t think that they could sneak a peppy synth riff into lofi sad music?

I am finding it impossible to avoid comparing “Let’s Forget Everyone Else” to The Microphones’ seminal work “The Glow Pt. 2”. Phil Elverum (and other K Records / Olympia, WA friends) started a revolution in lo-fi music, proving to the world that the rawness of the artist can be matched with the rawness of the production. Thankfully Let’s Everyone has followed in this trend and does not fall victim to sucking the soul out of the music. At no point do I think “man, I cannot wait until these demos are fully developed into their final form.” No, we are hearing exactly how these songs are meant to sound. A Daniel Johnston comparison might also be apt, especially in some of the more whimsical numbers (see “Pop Song”).

Wow, what an album that I have discovered in “Let’s Forget Everyone Else”. I’m not sure if Let’s Everyone is even calling this collection an album, since the tracks are generally listed as demos and appear to be taken from multiple years of recording. If I were Let’s Everyone’s manager I would encourage them to treat this album truly as an album and drop the “demo” tags. This work sounds perfectly complete and whole; there is no need for a “cleaner” sound or anything like that. Art is a representation of our emotions, and sometimes those emotions are rough around the edges.

What an absolutely beautiful collection of music.

https://360p.bandcamp.com/album/lets-forget-everyone-else-2022-2024

Joe H