Nothing is as complex as self-discovery, except for maybe the new Chelsea Wolfe album.
Wolfe’s name may not ring a bell, as she’s mainly gathered a small audience. She’s been blending gothic rock with components of folk music she was raised on, mixing in doom and experimental music too. This unique sound has created a dedicated fan base throughout her 15-year career. With an extensive history involved in music, and an individual style to go along with it, she still never managed to gain mainstream attention.
She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She represents a rebirth in the rock musician’s career. Her previous album, Birth of Violence, features Wolfe with the acoustic folk music she was known for. After that, she stayed quiet, doing only a few collaborations and a soundtrack in the past five years. Until Feb. 9 of this year.
Wolfe released She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She, an electronic-based album, recharacterizing herself and her style.
Themes of cutting ties–and the healing process involved–engulf the album’s every moment, showcasing an issue everyone faces but may not have wrestled with in depth.
The opening track “Whispers In The Echo Chamber” welcomes listeners to the new soundscapes Wolfe created for herself. This song reaches a more industrial tone, showing some possible influences from Nine Inch Nails. Although this track provides a notion of what’s to come, it isn’t a memorable track on its own.
It is followed by “House of Self-Undoing,” one of the more memorable tunes featured on the album. With a fast pace and electric atmosphere, this track starkly contrasts what “Whispers In The Echo Chambers” had attempted to guide us into, but still helps to build upon that world we’re just beginning to enter. The lyrics ask, “How long will you stay this time? / Joy thief, this human heart,” expressing the feeling of abandonment and the human heart’s role in it.
Of course, this healing process is not a linear thing, as many people try to make it. “Everything Turns Blue” depicts the loop. Wolfe opens up the song with the idea of self-sufficiency: “I’ve been living without you here and it’s alright / I’d been looking for a way out a long time / I’ve been living without you here and I can fight.” But that’s followed in the second verse with lyrics that reflect the grief of a relationship lost: “I’ve been thinking about you, heavy on my mind / I’ve been losing days here, do you know what that’s like?”
These steps of healing present themselves in the reverse order from the ideal, highlighting the bounce back and forth between the two emotions, and allowing the listener to know that this is entirely normal. The beat stays with a consistent bumping sound resembling a heartbeat. That alone creates another tie with listeners, allowing them to connect with that heartfelt feeling of her rediscovery of herself.
“Tunnel Lights” builds on the trip hop influences, almost like Björk meets Portishead. Wolfe still speaks about her connection to a partner from the past: “I’m sanctified in my lover’s eyes / No way around it / No way to fight / A pull too strong” she repeats, but this doesn’t appear to be a love song. Instead, the droning tones circling these lyrics help to visualize that this is more of a reflective moment, remembering what it was like not wanting a bond to break.
“Wolfe reminds us that it can be a growing process, with an ending reflecting the importance of that healing.”
The song “The Liminal” embodies separation, especially when she repeats “All you left behind was your exoskeleton / A spectral reminder of all that we’ve become” throughout the song’s chorus. The eerie nature of this comment emphasizes the fearful feeling losing someone. The catchy essence of the song resonates with the listener, almost acting as a reminder of that unmistakable sinking of the heart.
Of course, Wolfe reminds us that it can be a growing process, with an ending reflecting the importance of that healing. “I’m the future, I’m the former / I nurtured me, I came back stronger / I’m in your dreams, I’m in your song,” she sings with a sense of growth in herself.
This is followed by “Eyes Like Nightshade,” an unexpectedly rhythmic song. The techno beats over her ethereally hypnotic vocals showcase her ability to successfully blend sounds for herself. This is another one showcasing her memories of a person as she calls to them: “As time slows, stay close to me.”
“Salt” solidifies itself as a significant track from the first second. It fully immerses you in its ambience. The melodic vocals, just slightly muffled, give the impression of suffocation, or more so, suppression. The suffocating aspect can create a bit of uneasiness. This mixed with the theme of crying carried throughout the song does strike many people, as we may feel the need to suppress the expression of emotion.
“Unseen World” leads us directly into that, an unseen world. The world drum beat beautifully contrasts with the electronic melody, but surprisingly reaches a sound that is still accessible to the masses. This unseen world she’s giving us a glimpse of is her own mind. “The unknowable mind, I / Feel it till it’s time / Grieve and redefine.” The call to redefine is an attempt to accept the change given. Of course this lyric tries to give a sense of closure, but the ever-changing instrumental reveals the difficulty of maintaining that.
The ninth track, “Place in The Sun” is the final call for healing. Opening up with haunting vocals and a piano-led melody gives a feeling of despair, but don’t lose the comfort found in it. “I am safe in this body, safe in this heart / I have made it this far to live this life,” she tells us. The procedure to find that independence after all we’ve faced reminds us that although it’s nonlinear, the healing process is still effective. Don’t let the cold nature of this track misguide you to sadness, but instead remind you of the fire that keeps you warm.
The album closes with “Dusk,” a song calling back to her style showcased in earlier albums. Intertwining guitar and trip hop, along with those stripped down vocals, creates a soulful connection to those who listen. The breakdown into a heavier sound utilizes her trademark sound, but still maintains the hypnotic energy this album generates.
In She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She, Chelsea Wolfe captures the essence of healing as a nonlinear journey, where each note echoes the path to self-recovery. Leading us to fall deeper into the void, Wolfe still makes sure that we can make it out alive. And, more importantly, independent.
Velocity 
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