On A Question of Permanence, Clash Bowley wrestles with impermanence and transience, themes underscored by track titles like “Ephemeral” and “Everything It Passes.” It’s an album preoccupied with existential drift, and from the jump, Bowley builds a textural world that feels both unstable and meticulously sculpted.
“Exalt” sets the tone with a slick beat and a bassline that slithers and mutates beneath it, an eerie undercurrent that keeps things unsettled. Bowley’s vocals waver with uncertainty, adding to the sense of precariousness. Then there’s “Ephemeral,” which plays like a submerged fever dream—crawling through an underwater tunnel with synths pulsing like refracted light. When the guitar solo kicks in, it’s a stark contrast to the track’s rhythmic underbelly, soaring and jagged against the current.
If there’s anything resembling a single, it’s “Call Me, Call Me,” an off-kilter earworm that somehow makes its experimental edges feel inviting. Bowley murmurs, “That way the lightning glows / Over there the thunder crawls / In the light I see the road / Where you don’t call / Call me, call me,” like a plea echoing into the void.
Elsewhere, A Question of Permanence dips into lush ambient textures. “Bright With Promise” has the weightless, free-floating quality of Brian Eno’s best work, while “Summer Never Comes” swells with glowing synths that seem to radiate warmth. “What I Got” structures itself around a rhythmic mantra, every line beginning with “I Got,” with breathy vocalizations adding a nervous energy.
Then there’s “Too Close,” where Bowley morphs into a completely different character, adopting a near-cartoonish vocal inflection that somehow works. He keeps the streak going with the driving “The High Country,” the glimmering “Fly Tonight,” and the smoldering “Burning Questions.” One of the standout moments comes with “Losing Control of My Heart,” a track that leans into emotional rawness without losing its sense of mystery. The album closes with “Everything It Passes,” a serene and weightless comedown—Bowley’s last word on the ephemeral nature of it all.
For an album so wrapped in questions of impermanence, A Question of Permanence leaves a lasting imprint. It’s deeply original, unpredictable, and well worth a listen.
Comentarios