Zooey Celeste - Restless Thoughts (2023)
Review:
A native of Southern California who started writing songs as a child and went on to study poetry and creative writing, Zooey Celeste was inspired to record his first album while writing a novel -- a metaphysical thriller featuring a character called Zooey Celeste. While working on the book, he developed a habit of picking up his guitar and writing songs based on the scenes he'd just finished. The title track of the resulting Restless Thoughts, for instance, is based on a scene involving a car accident and an out-of-body experience. He got help in the process from a longtime friend, none other than singer/songwriter/producer Nick Hakim, who stepped in to produce and brings a nocturnal sensibility to the album. Musicians including Unknown Mortal Orchestra bassist Jake Portrait, drummer Abe Rounds (Andrew Bird, Devendra Banhart), and singer/songwriter Tei Shi also contributed to select songs. A set of angsty, lo-fi pop/rock with touches of chamber pop and post-punk, Restless Thoughts features track titles like "Big Trouble," "God Awful," and "Torture Me," but begins with "Effortless," a dreamy, delay-heavy orchestral rock entry that's nonetheless full of tension. Tei Shi lends ethereal vocals to a featured spot on edgy synth pop entry "Big Trouble," which has Celeste repeating the sentiment "I want to be free." Elsewhere, one of the album's few moments of subdued weariness, "Cosmic Being," offers lyrics like "Harmony/It's all we need/Just peace/In you and me." Most of Restless Thoughts, however, maintains a state of agitation, including its spare closer, "Stay Up," which finds Celeste accompanied by only staccato strings and light keyboard atmospheres as he repeats, "I'm going right back to where I started/But this time I’m gonna stay up." Somehow character-driven, emotionally authentic, cinematic, and rough-hewn at once, Restless Thoughts is an intriguing album that lives up to its name. — by Marcy Donelson / allmusic.com
Track List:
01. Effortless
02. Restless Thoughts
03. Walk By
04. Big Trouble
05. Running All Night
06. Torture Me
07. Cosmic Being
08. God Awful
09. Comeback
10. Heaven Sent
11. Stay Up
Media Report:
Genre: dream-pop
Country: New York, New York, USA
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits
Compression mode: Lossless
Writing library: libFLAC 1.2.1 (UTC 2007-09-17)
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