| ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
The fifth studio album from Californian jack-of-all-trades Quadeca is his grandest artistic statement so far. Once upon a time, Benjamin Lasky was dabbling in a world entirely different from the one he inhabits currently. A “YouTube rapper”, doomed to find himself caught up in blows with other notorious figures of the scene, he clearly wanted more for himself musically. His decidedly ambitious 2021 release From Me To You was his attempt to delineate these intentions, blending his backpack tendencies with elevated production, it was a project full of potential that he wouldn’t fully realise until his follow-up I Didn’t Mean To Haunt You. A far-cry from his prior oeuvre, he was an almost entirely new artist. If someone had told me back in 2020 that Quadeca of all people was going to have a ‘YouTube rap → lo-fi indie art-pop electronica singer-songwriter’ transformation all within the span of 18 months, I probably would’ve told you to get out of my house.
Scrapyard was an unintentional step-up from that as well. The leftovers and half-finished ideas from his previous cycle were sitting before our ears, somehow perfectly capturing what he had been building to since ‘FMTY’. Not only that, but he had developed even sharper songwriting capabilities, and the left-field production work had practically travelled out-of-bounds at this point. Ben’s hair was now brushing the ceiling, and the lingering question was: where on Earth does he go from here?
When you’ve worked for so many years to try and prove yourself to everyone, it can be easy to stop yourself at the point where you feel like you’ve achieved the pinnacle. As if the only direction in any trajectory is up. A lot of creatives seem to forget about lateral movement; this idea that once you hit the top, there’s still a whole spectrum of exploration yet to go. Quadeca must’ve had this epiphany post-Scrapyard, as Vanisher is far lighter on the metallic industrialisms of his last, and leans way more into chamber and folk songwriting. Not without its harsher moments, ‘Thundrrr’ is handily the most explosive cut on the project, ‘The Great Bakuwana’ a close second. These barnburners are the exception far more often than they are the rule. ‘Godstained’ as the lead single gave us the idea that this would be the case immediately. A shimmering marriage of woodwind, acoustic guitar and string arrangements, it sees Quadeca push his talents as a composer to serious success. The plucky second lead single ‘Monday’ makes effective use of its natural waltz to evoke visuals of romance. Quadeca’s boyish vocals enhance the innocent tone, though lyrically speaking this track is full of self-doubt. Longing meets dissatisfied expectations. “Darling, don’t you give up on a Monday”, there’s resolve despite any faux pas that may or may not have been committed.
There is a thematic reoccurrence of perseverance across the project, weathering storms and emerging safely. Given the nautical inclinations of the music and lyrics, this very basic reading has to hold some weight. ‘Forgone’ is the most endearing representation of this mindset. As lonely as life can get, sometimes it pays to hold firm. “Through it all… you are the one that remains”. On the flip side, ‘Casper’ (featuring Maruja) concludes with some of the trippiest sound play of the year, replicating the sound of waves crashing over the music. It’s never implied that the drowning is effective, in fact, it seems as if our narrator makes it to shore. If my interpretation is correct, it’s just a further reinforcement of the aforementioned ideas I discussed about pushing on, resilience. It’s a cliché for a reason, but the saying goes: when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Never has an album portrayed this ethos better than Vanisher.
Dan Will Review 