The album “Think: Peace” by Clarence Clarity is unlike anything I have heard, and this is coming from someone who listens to any and all genres. His music seems to mix and mold eccentric electronic sounds with haunting rhythms in the background, throwing in poppy elements fused with R&B aspects as well. With the listen of the first track CC-wave, the sounds already reminded me of music from the 80s, summoning a sort of nostalgia with the older vibes he plays around with while implementing futuristic noises. Clarence Clarity invokes past and far in the future elements boldly enough to intersperse them while meshing aspects of each to create a masterpiece of timeless sound.
The themes he seems to work with appear mostly sonically dark, but the instrumental he adds to each song has endless layers and end up making the listen exciting, even happiness-inducing to some extent. He makes each sound effect seamlessly flow in and out of each other, only producing choppy sounds intentionally. The electronic parts and their repetitions give a sci-fi feel, along with the patterns they take. This album just plays around with so many diverse sounds, it is hard to even put the musical effects he creates into words. Specifically, “Adam & The Evil” and “Naysayer, Magick Obeyer” utilizes the repetition of phrases in choruses, channeling the past-future concept with the lyrical wordplay. “W€ CHANG£” has that hauntology effect, with vocals chopped up and laid out on the track, beginning with synth as if taken out of a horror movie. The buildup of electronic swirls of sounds is the coolest part, descending into a mishmash of sounds, then cascading into salsa beats and spoken-word. On the track, “Next Best Thing,” he brings out riffs of electric guitar surprisingly, creating a more rock-aligned song but the mood of the track itself is very upbeat.
One of my favorite tracks would be: “Fold ‘Em/Silver Lake Reservoir,” as it is a flowy, jumble of sounds, beginning with a low “Fold ‘em,” with very haunting sort of xylophone type dings mixed with twinkly beats and a tiny, scream type noise that channels Yoshi (especially when he falls in any game played with him in it). The hook being the horror-sounding “Fold ‘em” lays the somber foundation, with the rest of the track being seemingly lighter sounding, with the twinkly beats making a comeback. “Tru(e) Love” is definitely a “woke” track, seemingly warning us of getting swept up in online dating and virtual realities, forgetting how everything is not what it seems when technology is involved. It even includes beat patterns towards the end that remind me of GameBoy games, or older gaming devices when you are falling through something or lose a fight. The echo effects he adds after those sounds are very interstellar, kind of made me feel like I was in space. The track “SAME?” reminds me of old schoolboy groups like N’SYNC, with the insanely catchy dance-pop/R&B sounds coming through, intermingling with darker tunes and electric guitar. In regards to piano sounds, the track, “2016,” is the best example of this, with the haunting piano playing over the repeated line “In time/we’ll learn,” presumably forwarding the idea that our problems will always exist.
Overall, all the tracks on this album are distinct from one another, yet manage to maintain that same feel as each ends, leaving one in somewhat of a trance. I wish Clarence Clarity was more mainstream, as his music is too ahead-of-his-time to not be given a listen. The majority of our generation prefers predictable melodies, catchy tunes, and a focus on romantic songs more than anything. If it were not this way, people other than musical intellectuals would be enraptured by his genius. I hadn’t heard of him before an English assignment, and that paved the way to me indulging in the full album. I am so glad I got exposed to Clarence Clarity, as music is a huge part of my life and now I have been introduced to some unbelievable, genre and mind-bending music I will continue to listen to and spread.