Circuit Des Yeux - -io (2021) Hi-Res

Limbo: the prevailing doctor or waiting room-esqe space characterizing the underlying energetic propulsion towards somewhere "else." Yet, being in these suspensive spaces offers a unique chance to ask: "where did we come from?" and "where the heck are we going?" Haley Fohr's— performing as Circuit des Yeux—steadfast, unafraid, and sublime bravado ushers a 10-track opus on this precarious idea of suspension. Across the entirety of i>-io, Circuit des Yeux wrote, arranged, produced, and performed with a 24-piece orchestra to bring these firmly fundamental ideas to life with rich, textured, mellifluous detail. Recorded during the depths of 2020 lockdowns, -io embraces its thematic gusto to a perfect T and showcases an artist guiding an audience to places we never thought we'd go and back again. Buckle up—it's a wild ride.

Circuit des Yeux's voice is equal parts storytelling and world-building instrument. Enriched with a range of rich baritone touches to warbling falsetto whistle tassels, her voice shares pertinent mystical lyrics for our journey, and seamlessly blends in as a member of the bombastic musical backdrop. The album's cinematic ambitions are clear from opener "Tonglen | In Vain." Hushed breaths emulsify into an orchestra's warm-up whirl. Dissonant strings swell and swell until a brief pause leaves us in a pinch; the sweet release of "Vanishing" and taut operatic rock groove of "Dogma" strap us in as Fohr offers bleak condemnations on the paradox of modern life. "Argument" flexes the record's true ambition. Split into three movements, Circuit des Yeux weaves muted trumpet blares, 6/8-time rollicking guitar lullabies and demonic bass-enriched vocals pondering, "Is this the end?," all in a fiery 5-minute specter.

In both lyrics and sonic soundscapes, -io embodies the idea of the perpetual. "It is a place where everything is ending all the time … where mothers have vertigo, gravity is God, and grief hovers just below the atmosphere," Fohr says. "It is also the place that lent me the ability to openly explore the spiral of fear, sickness, death, and grief." What can these edges of our comprehension teach us about the moments of life where we're stretched and our tethers begin to buckle? On -io, we're called to steep in that space, let go of the paradoxical expectations built into our culture, and connect with a deeper, if not essential, part of our being. This record does that and more, and in brilliant Hi-Res audio, requires your full attention and multiple spins for its richness to realize.