Photo Credit: Mckayla Heuer
The current pandemic has led many of us to confront the realities of such uncomfortable topics as isolation, pain (both physical and mental) and death. Such confrontations prove difficult even under ideal circumstances; how do you make sense of such things when can’t even gather with those you love? On an even more basic level, how do we begin to process such individual and collective traumas? And how do we start to heal from the damage wrought by this insidious virus?
Milwaukee-based singer-songwriter Kyle John Kenowski began working on his recent album, Need Disease, well before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet the record, which Kenowski himself describes as “centered around what has become known as deaths of despair,” provides a sort of vocabulary to address the pain that has become such a part of our contemporary landscape. The album’s nine songs are challenging in their complexity, but still manage to sound rooted in musical histories that will ring familiar to many listeners. It is a record you can listen to alone—while not feeling alone.
An important part of the appeal of Need Disease is that it feels a complete album, indeed even a complete world. Characters such as “Peter” (the title of the album’s first song) appear in multiple songs, as do suggestive words like “veins” and “needles.” As Kenowski explains, “I do consider the album as a cohesive story, but one seen through shattered glass.” Yet such a perspective does not mean the album is a sonic downer. Instead, Kenowski plays with apparent conflicts between music and lyrics throughout Need Disease. One hears this clearly in “Trustwormy,” a catchy song driven by Kenowski’s acoustic guitar playing that features only two short sentences for its lyrics: “You’re a liar. No wonder.” Kenowski sings these troubling lines with such passionate abandon that he seems to find hope in uttering such an idea out loud.
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Kenowski fully explores such tensions in “Avalanche,” the nearly nine-minute song that is the centerpiece of Need Disease. Kenowski notes that “Avalanche” is “maybe the most challenging track I’ve ever worked on,” and it’s easy to hear why. The song features, among other elements, overlapping noise tracks, vocal harmonies, electronic instrumentation, and orchestral flourishes. The collage that Kenowski is able to create with “Avalanche” is reminiscent of such acts as Brian Wilson/the Beach Boys, Big Star, Queen and Wilco (heady company, indeed). Yet “Avalanche” still manages to sound unique, as the song’s lyrics create a narrative that you know belongs to him. As Kenowski croons “You make pain so effortless” he manages to capture a mood that is both downcast and triumphant. It is a sound made for the present.
It will be interesting to see if Kenowski can perform such complicated songs in a live setting. Yet until this is possible, he has found another way to present his material: animation. A video for “Trustwormy” was recently posted online by Adult Swim, as a part of their “Smalls” series. And Kenowski himself put up a Need Disease track “Disgruntlestiltskin” on New Year’s Eve. To Kenowski, “it’s easier to watch a three-minute video than to sit and listen to a 40-minute album.” In 2021, more and more listeners will undoubtedly be doing both.
