Hello, veterans. Here's another review to offset your PTSD. At this point you know the drill, but send music shit to [ fosterhildingmusic@gmail.com ] or DM me on Instagram.
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| photos courtesy of agile. |
I can't even remember how I found agile--floating somewhere in the Apple Music algorithm in ways I could not attempt to understand, but I'm happy I did. Raw in absolute screaming form, belting thin chuggings into your ear beneath snare-heavy sprawls, there's a purity and almost untouched quality to leaving behind everything you love. It feels like a mysterious obscure find in a thrift store from the forgotten 00s. Just have to give props to the album cover, too. Beautiful.
feelings are selfish starts in weakling guitars just holding on strong enough to be heard, their efforts only rewarded in the band's aching full swing and static vocals buried like an old radio. Both guitars arpeggiate in and out of sympathy and connection in the second part, giving way for thumping, bubbling toms and a vengeful return to completion. Reaching for a reason, screaming for understanding, and pulsing with half-time guitars, the ending is crushing and real.
no matter how many rocks i throw's drums echo behind these blasting guitars and the chanting, "Each broken window is a broken arm / A broken promise." This song introduces another vocalist who blends so pleasantly and disgustingly into the previous, a choir of agony upon floating riffs and a supernatural bass.
six years starts in a post-hardcore candor, drums unable to decide between blast beat heaven and groovy, ride-drenched jams. Somehow, this album feels incredibly full despite its bare bones production. agile knows how to fill every frequency and emotion with their instruments and abilities alone, harmonics entangled with vocals in angelic melody, and freight train drums tied to a whale bass to keep them moving along their impenetrable railway. What's let in after, though, is a soft exploration of math rock riffs beneath smooth vocals and a building of weight so monumental its overwhelming.
when were older, lets... (sic) stops us in our tracks and makes us reflect. Maybe on things we don't want to remember, maybe on fond memories we're unwilling to forget--but, regardless it infantilizes us all. There's something about the guitar clean guitar tone in this project that feels so incredibly naked, stripped down, and vulnerably human, like an acceptance of weakness or an embrace of understanding. "Let's have a tea party" feels less like the casual proposal and more like trying so hard to hold onto something that's already passed. The switch at the song's halfway point is just plain cool, think Unwound with riffs more creeping and screams more desperate. This is definitely my favorite track. It captures something so universal yet so personal, that it's impossible not to melt into their soundscapes in commiseration. It's an ode to memory.
el incomprendido, the shortest track by far, is simply strings in their fluttering masquerade as they bury remnants of the past, a crackling Spanish sample guiding us into agile's closer.
in your own arms is a giving in to despair. Screaming, pulsing, and thumping with noise, its black metal homage is outlined with hope. Spoken words spill over the edges of an Indian Summer until agile's last ditch efforts in reaching us complete with massive guitars and bass scraping dizzily between notes. It hurts, it's beautiful. And when those last words escape the music, it isn't over. They're yours now.
Florida's own gem, agile, is a force not only to be reckoned with, but one to join in their aching misery. Only just starting their musical journey, they have incredible promise and immense talent. Just great stuff all around, not much more to say. Thanks for reading, everyone.
9/10
Stream leaving behind everything you love.
-Foster
See Agile on tour this November and December.
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