Glasgow-based Amy Aytchi makes her full-length debut with Cyclosis, an alternative pop concept album following a girl who becomes a tornado after fleeing into a storm, unleashing havoc on those who wronged her. Blending dream-pop with modern folk, the record pairs a fantastical narrative with deeply personal themes of femininity, nostalgia, and self-discovery.
A stunning opening track, “Harbinger” is hypnotic and theatrical in its swelling sense of emotion. Featuring collaborator Callum Buick Dawson, the track opens with spoken-word narration as Aytchi’s wordless, dreamy harmonies rest over backing instrumentation reminiscent of wind chimes. Dawson’s delivery escalates in depictions of a “beast’s melody” as visceral descriptions continue, now bolstered by Aytchi’s spoken-word reflection. Poetic lyrical prowess and a dreamy art-pop spell converge on this delightful opener.
“Orchid Forever” arrives next, its “haunted me” layering putting Aytchi’s stirring presence on full display, where admissions of fear move into an engrossing second half featuring soaring passion alongside electric guitar twangs and panting percussive momentum. “Better Woman” continues the album’s consuming start, here showcasing a folk-set fluttering as apologies for not being “a better woman” move into washes of distortion, ultimately cathartic in its reckoning of personal confidence with societal pressure.
The rest of the album enthralls as well. “Twister” feels like a partner to the album’s opener, here infusing ghostly spoken-word passages and chiming lushness into a moody, haunting rock and folk convergence, with a lovely likeness to Marissa Nadler. Elsewhere, “Playing God” embeds warming organ and a lyrical contrast to “Better Woman,” here gushing “you make me feel like a god” in its smitten revelry. Pairing personal thematic confrontations with consistently melodic productions, Cyclosis is an excellent album from Amy Aytchi.
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“Orchid Forever” and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Emerging Singles’ Spotify playlist.
We discovered this release via MusoSoup.
