Last Friday I drove to Birmingham, Alabama, to see one of my favorite bands play at the Desert Island Supply Company, a nonprofit creative writing program that offers free after-school workshops for students in Birmingham. Since the “DISCo.” isn’t technically a music venue, the room was jam packed with not only people, but arts and crafts projects, nautical memorabilia and more than a dozen world globes. A lot of bands use the atmosphere of the room to their advantage, as the low lighting and small quarters made their music feel even closer and more personal. However, no band used this advantage as well as Told Slant, who stole the show with their emotionally jarring and intimate performance.
Before that night, I had no prior knowledge of Told Slant, but after watching frontman Felix Walworth beat on a makeshift drum kit while singing, I was moved to purchase their most recent release “Going By” from their merch table. “Going By” is Felix’s second album under the moniker Told Slant, and it branches off from the other Epoch bands he is a member of with its blend of indie-pop guitar riffs and mournful vocals that make it perfect for morning drives and late nights lying awake.
The album is a sad, convoluted collection of songs that give personal and sometimes heartbreaking insights into Walworth’s life. It’s a unique album, as it works intricately between songs while simultaneously retaining a simplistic style. For example, in the opening track “I Don’t,” the chorus of “oh oh ohs” comes back to life on later track “Tsunami,” while on the same song the lyrics “Isn’t this silly / and aren’t you beautiful?” resonate once more on the final track “Cannon Balls.” This creates a cohesion between songs and helps Felix retain a sense of order between tracks.
Walworth also uses this to construct an album that works together in telling his stories of love and loss. It’s an emotional record, centering around relationships and the different stages of grief and depression that follow suit. The album strives off of simple beats and catchy guitar melodies that help to amplify the theme of the album through more powerful lines, such as in “High Dirge” where Felix and company sing out “it’s a long life / I can’t get it right” as the song picks up momentum.
If Told Slant piques your interest, I recommend checking out more of The Epoch catalog, which is a community of musicians from New York who all make music together in different bands. “Going By” is an ornate and beautiful release that pulses emotions outwards onto the listener. Walworth’s melancholic vocal style reflects the manner of someone choking out words that are sometimes just too hard to let out, and it creates a private moment between himself and the listener that evokes emotions not found on many albums released so far this year.
