Anxiety is an emotion that has resonated with many people over the events of the past year. This emotion is what has driven Ian Sweet’s latest record, Show Me How You Disappear.
Ian Sweet is the moniker of solo artist Jilian Medford, who has risen to a considerable level of fame over the past five years. Her debut album, Shapeshifter, earned her a spot on a European tour with Girlpool in 2017. Her sophomore album, Crush Crusher, reflected her further descent into chronic depression and panic attacks, serving as a painful means of self-reflection.
In January of 2020, Medford was admitted into an outpatient program in order to confront her mental health issues. While there, she was once again drawn into self-reflection, only this time, it was with a purpose of healing.
That energy can be found on her latest record. Many of the lyrics are described as “mantras” that Medford sings to battle her intrusive thoughts and reassure herself that she’s alright. This can be seen on the track “Get Better” as she sings, “I wanna get better, better, better / But in my mind I’m still lyin’ in your bed / I wanna get better, better, better / But I just get you well instead”.
Sonically, the album flows through waves of noise, reverb, and muddy guitars that sound much like the pending anxiety Medford was dealing with at the time of recording. She’s able to isolate her vocals to sound like a confrontation against these emotions, rather than letting herself get carried away in the noise. There are also quite a few cleaner and brighter moments on the record. Tracks like “Sword” offer somewhat of a breath of fresh air from the chaos and immersion of the surrounding tracks.
Overall, Show Me How You Disappear is a stellar album about confronting mental illness head-on. And in a time when so many people are experiencing conflicting emotions about so many things, I couldn’t think of a more appropriate theme.
Favorite tracks: “Drink the Lake”, “My Favorite Cloud”, “Get Better”, “Sword”.
Listen to the rest of our Top 50 here!
Loading ...