The Aeronaut! is a captivating art-rock concept album from Toronto-based filmmaker and musician Noah Suarez. Poignant in its release following the recent Artemis II mission, the release’s narrative explores the friction between cosmic ambition and earthly limitations, tracing an astronaut candidate’s medical grounding due to a diagnosis of deteriorating glaucoma cataracts. Via memorable lyricism and evolving song structures, Suarez captures the isolation of a narrowed future against the infinite sky.
Opening the album in riveting form, “Cataracts!” progresses with an enveloping piano-forward introduction. Expressive vocals and pulsing guitars emerge thereafter, conveying an ambition to “be the one jetting off to outer space.” Twangy guitars and bouncy piano continue as the vocals conjure a heady outlook on ambition and reality, culminating in an “all came crashing down” acknowledgement — where the diagnosis of cataracts renders a dream seemingly obsolete. The impact of uncontrollable forces, medical or otherwise, on personal ambition is a bitter pill to swallow, and “Cataracts!” opens the album with visceral allure in capturing those laments within a dynamic art-rock array.
A more ominous delivery beckons on “Barrel Rolls in Cameroon,” its foreboding vocal tone and debonair guitar twangs exuding a sound fondly reminiscent of later-era Scott Walker. “Oh darling, I was falling out the sky,” a fervent vocal push unveils as a rock-forward production stirs amidst themes of self-desctruction, maneuvering between murky intrigue and jangling rock theatrics — the vocal tone and space-minded themes show shades of Tranquility Base-era Arctic Monkeys. “A Bonsai That Died In My Arms” continues the album’s stellar start, here displaying a folk-friendly contemplation. “The stars were better in my dreams,” Suarez’s vocals let out, its “pining away in my bed” proximity, rather than the reaches of space, resembling a coming-to-terms with disappointment — and how it’s difficult to be a nurturer, whether in regard to one’s dreams or a bonsai tree.
An epic standout, “Earthbound” struts a compelling sense of momentum and heart-on-sleeve appeal. “Does she know that all of my songs are written for her?” Suarez’s powerful vocals ask, ascending from subdued thoughts into “two canvases” smitten adoration. “I’m better now, with new aspiration,” an especially resonant section lets out, following hints of over-dependence and vulnerability, for what resembles an artistic portrayal of overconfidence.
Elsewhere, “Titanium Space Battleship” showcases a Bowie-esque spacefaring in its ghostly vocal commentary and chilly acoustics, the “now I dream about a proper tax return” — rather than space-set ambition — presenting a sorrowful reality as melancholic strings emerge. Album finale “Everything!” arrives next, concluding the release with a “I could still see the stars, and that’s everything” hopefulness, recognizing a lost dream as still within reach, depending on the framing. Consuming in its emotional and melodic songcraft, The Aeronaut! is an affecting, grippingly thematic success from Noah Suarez.
