Alt Girl Encounters is an immersive new album from cae, a Birmingham, Alabama-based artist blending lo-fi textures and electronic-rock influences. Opening track “b4u” establishes a spacey, vulnerable tone, while “Enterlude” shifts into shoegaze-tinged distortion and dynamic harmonic layers. Concluding with the serene strums of “ihu<3,” the release navigates disassociation and personal transition through abstract bedroom-pop production.
“b4u” opens the album with hypnotic intrigue, weaving sporadic flickers of spacey synths and soulful melodic introspection. “Sometimes I look back and just think where did I go wrong,” cae’s delivery intones, fondly reminiscent of Frank Ocean in combining vulnerable lyricism with serenely atmospheric allure. A more rhythmic prominence delights on “ur my fave artist.”, where gentle percussive pitter-pattering and illuminated keys set a stream-of-consciousness feel. The ensuing “usexual” is a gorgeous production, especially in its movement from dynamic lead phrasing to a bass-y, bouncy warmth.
The album’s lengthiest track, “Enterlude” is fully exemplary of the artist’s knack for inventive soundscapes and climactic structural evolutions. The backing guitar tones give off a shoegaze-y, distorted quality, furthered by ethereal higher-pitched harmonies that remind fondly of Blonde Redhead in their calming tonal disposition. Also impressing is album finale “ihu<3” and its navigation from shimmering acoustic strums to serene singing and bass-heavy meditativeness, making for a lulling come-down as Alt Girl Encounters comes to a satiating close; it is a thorough achievement of an album from cae, who elaborates more on the release:
“This ep was made during a transitional period in my life i was taking a break from releasing music and going through a breakup.I turned to music skating etc to keep my mind off of things and started investing my time in discovering new electronic and rock music influences and was listening non stop. I started trying to sample and play around with it in my production as well as in my vocals and admire the fluidity and expression drive vocals can give to a song versus normal rap vocals. This ep this first of many releases incorporating and evolving this more raw rock rap style.”
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“dreamt abt u…” and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Emerging Singles’ Spotify playlist.
