Outsideness‘ second album …Then After? expands the collaboration between Freidrich$ and Azalias into a more melodic, organic, and genre-fluid statement. Moving between R&B, rock, acoustic songwriting, electronic music, and experimental pop, the album embraces unpredictable structural shifts while retaining the project’s intimate, outsider-art sensibility and Azalias’ expressive lead presence. The project’s debut, …From What?, also caught our ears this past April.
Opening track “Alright” consumes in its starry-eyed hopefulness and lingering heartbreak, exuding both perseverance through tumult (apparent in the “Running Up That Hill” reference) and palpable yearning. “We’re just beginning, get out of this prison,” Freidrich$ pushes forward as Azalias’ ghostly reflections beckon amidst twinkling keys. “I listen for the signal, that you’re still here, I feel the thought of you next to me,” the soul-searching continues, punctuated there by added rhythmic vigor. The “reason to feel alright” glimmer of optimism excels as the central hook, magnified by expressive layered harmonies. Outsideness is plenty capable of balancing emotional weight and dreamy backings, and “Alright” is exemplary of such.
Arriving next, “Freedom” shifts to an acoustic-set contemplation, weaving lush guitar with introspective lyricism on how there “ain’t nothing better than time together.” The folk soundscape excels into a dynamic second half, where Azalias’ soaring lines move past the “forest lights up” folk-friendly momentum to effervescent harmonies, pulsing rhythms, and frolicking strings; the eclectic shifts recall The Avalanches. “Container” succeeds in a similar structural realm, expanding from the “I get hurt a lot” synth-arpeggiated minimalism to a clearer second half, where Azalias’ confident delivery grooves alongside funky bass bounces and electro-pop savvy. “Container” showcases a talent to embrace both laid-back alt-pop and melodic approachability.
Another standout track, “Got Me” fuses several familiar lyrical snippets, ranging from the title-touting heartrending to the “rain is gone” exultation, as overlapping harmonies span from rainy-day lushness to Azalias’ “you really complete me” ardor. It puts on a clinic in eclectic arrangement, concluded by smooth-as-butter guitar stylings. Elsewhere, “Dance” begins with a tempting “what if I asked you to dance now?” alongside soft acoustics and off-kilter rhythms, pining for a retrospective warmth, while “Water” enthralls in its swell from submerged art-folk vibes into a bass-heavy, soulful send-off.
Then arrives album finale “Hold,” where lyrical accounts of personal fatigue and relationship complexities — “you want me to be the fire of your life, but I’m only passing through” — delight amidst a structural evolution, moving from initial subduedness to Azalias’ cathartic, emotive vocal conclusion. …Then After? consistently stirs in its dynamic productions and melodic songcraft, set alongside memorably vulnerable lyricism and riveting harmonies.
