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Katy Kirby Album Review: Blue Raspberry

(Anti-)

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Cubic zirconia. Blue raspberry flavoring. Synthesizers: Do they truly possess less innate worth because they're not organic? Or is worth determined by the value we put on them? These are the questions Katy Kirby grapples with on her sophomore album Blue Raspberry, but in the context of self-definition, outward image, and the mind games of people in a relationship. Just like on her stellar debut Cool Dry Place, Kirby's clever wordplay elevates mundane imagery into deeper queries on life and love. Blue Raspberry, though, is more biographical and more instrumentally sweeping; that is, Kirby's first written album as an out queer woman, more emotionally complex than anything she's released to date, required more elaborate arrangements and production than the comparatively sparse Cool Dry Place. "Why wouldn't that be enough?" she sees herself asking throughout the queer love songs of Blue Raspberry, always answering by yearning for something more lush than bedroom recordings of bedroom-and-beyond tales.

Nonetheless, on Blue Raspberry, what happens between walls carries major consequences, and Kirby expertly builds up her stories. Take opener "Redemption Arc"--its title itself a reference to plot and narrative--with its initially arpeggiated piano and Kirby's vocals following the melody atop weeping strings. "I pour out a drink and I stand for a toast / I raise up a glass to your personal growth," she sings, ambiguous in her tone. Eventually, you realize she's being sarcastic, which mirrors her significant other's lack of genuineness: "You misspelled apology / You ended it with I and E / Diminutive contrition / But I still know what you mean," she sings, sliding a grammar joke into her barb. Towards the end of the song, producers Alberto Sewald and Logan Chung's pattering drums and distorted bass swell as Kirby tries to prevent tragedy, albeit recounting the dark humor of the event: "I lock the doors and I talk you down," she sings, quipping, "I put our reconciliation in my calendar." Leave it to her to supply an album's worth of sounds and moods in one song.

But with Blue Raspberry, Kirby's given us a whole collection of tunes tied together through their balance of romance and rawness. "Cubic Zirconia" concentrates on surface-level attraction and her attempts to nonetheless dig deeper. "Magazine quiz called you apple shape / You look to me like dollar signs," Kirby flirts, eventually admitting that her wants can usurp her needs: "I'm still craving that unstable sort of shine." The collection of key instruments on the song, from panning Rhodes piano to organ, gives it an expansive, yet tactile feel, an expert manifestation of how even the cheapest jewelry and plastic can gleam. The album's title track--whose writing process helped Kirby realize her own queerness--plays with similar ideas of authenticity. Her vocals are layered and pitch-shifted, horns and acoustic guitars muted by otherworldly synthesizers, the perfect backing to similes like, "Her eyes burn white as Styrofoam right into me."

Perhaps most rewarding about Blue Raspberry is the extent to which the same instruments can conjure contrasting feelings. Swirling, percussive textures and plucked strings on "Hand to Hand"--reminiscent of Fetch the Bolt Cutters--recall the unvarnished emotions of breakups, but in the contrast of "Fences"' statement of agency, provide a breezier sway. Sean Brennan's forlorn cello leads "Party of the Century"'s reckoning with the ethical responsibility each of us have as the world burns, while it menaces the slow-lurking, doomy "Alexandria", a song about something far more personal: the dissolution of Kirby's first queer relationship. For the whole record, Kirby enlisted the likes of Rowen Merrill to compose baroque orchestral arrangements to match the cinema of the album, which they do to great success on piano ballad "Salt Crystal" and chiming satire "Drop Dead". Kirby's anything but obvious, though, as it's actually the most gentle-sounding song that viciously guides you through the peaks and valleys of infidelity. Over a slinky instrumental, Kirby sings, "I turned off my location / Let her fuck me like you thought you did," before delivering the kicker: "I remember every minute." On an album concerned with inner and outer beauty, Kirby at least comes away with the realization that the deeper you go, the greater the permutations for levels of ecstasy and hurt.

[queen-of-the-crows]

Three Fandoms

I was tagged by @dovahkiinshepardtrevelyan to give you more insight into my top 3 fandoms so here goes

Rules: Choose any three fandoms (in random order) and answer the questions, then tag people you wanna know better.

Three Fandoms:

Dragon Age / Game of Thrones / Arrowverse

The first character you loved:

Dragon Age: Alistair. I actually romanced him on accident cause I didn’t even know that was possible but he was so sweet and charming and funny and witty and so hopelessly romantic, I couldn’t help but love him and he still holds a special place in my heart

Game of Thrones: Jon Snow. Hands down. My sister kinda started me on this before I even watched the show because he’s one of her favorite characters and she started the show before I did. I liked that he wanted to be his own person and not just live as a bastard.

Arrowverse: Oliver Queen. kinda obvious since hes the main character and the first character you really know anything about. he grows so much just between when you meet him and the flashbacks you see and his attitude is just something i’ve always liked.

The character you never expected to love so much:

Dragon Age: This one is tough cause most of the characters I either love, hate, or am indifferent to. Probably Shale if I had to choose. I got the DLC cause it was free and I like to collect all the companions I can. I figured a golem would basically be good for fighting and that’s it but Shale’s dialogue is some of my favorite in the whole series and i adore her attitude. She’s basically me.

Game of Thrones: Tyrion. I didn’t expect to dislike him or anything like that but as the seasons go on, I just grow to love him more and more because he is truly an absolutely amazing character. 

Arrowverse: John Diggle. He starts off being Oliver’s bodyguard and is really more of an annoyance than anyone likable but when he joins him on his mission and they start to become friends and then almost like brothers. it’s really wholesome and they’re dynamic is one of my all time favorites. 

The character you relate to the most:

Dragon Age: Zevran. He keeps people at arm’s length because he doesn’t want to be hurt and sometimes doesn’t think he deserves it. He covers up his pain with humor and has a very loving heart even though he doesn’t show it. You truly have to gain his trust and his loyalty and break down his walls and that’s how I am.

Game of Thrones: Arya. The girl who doesn’t want to be a lady and would rather be a warrior, that’s 100% me. That’s why my own original character in my fic while being from a noble house abandons that to aid the Night’s Watch. Women who are just badass and don’t take anyone’s shit are my absolute favorite and very like my own personality about people. 

Arrowverse: Felicity Smoak. She loves Oliver despite his past, despite the things he’s done and how broken he can be. She’s supportive and loves him even when they aren’t together and she’s incredibly smart. She loves the way that I love when it comes to my own soulmate and I love seeing that. 

The character you’d slap:

Dragon Age: Solas. I do really like Solas as a character, don’t get me wrong. I think he’s very written and has a very cool story but there have to be better ways to restore what was lost to the elves or at least help out their lot in life without tearing apart the veil and killing everyone. Plus you know he lied to everyone and fucked some shit up. Also Loghain because I loved his character in The Stolen Throne and can’t believe he went so wrong in Origins. 

Game of Thrones: Jaime Lannister. I hated him at the beginning but after being kidnapped and traveling with Brienne I start to really like him and he really starts to change and become a better person and that’s something I love to see. But his unending devotion to Cersei pisses me off because despite all the horrible things she’s done including getting their children killed, he still loves her and stays with her up until the end of season 7 which did make me happy. But yeah, that’s why I’d slap him.

Arrowverse: Malcolm Merlin. I actually love Malcolm at least in Arrow, he pisses me the fuck off in Legends but anyway. He loves his daughter and wants to be in her life and for awhile she wants that and lets him but his greedy power hungry ass always fucks it up and loses her.

Three favourite characters (in order of preference):

Dragon Age: Fenris, Zevran, Morrigan

Game of Thrones: Jon Snow, Arya Stark, Tyrion Lannister (it was Daenarys but she really bothered me last season with how power hungry she’s becoming)

Arrowverse: Oliver Queen, Felicity Smoak, Sara Lance

A character you didn’t like at first but do now:

Dragon Age: Loghain would be the closest one to fit this category cause most of my character opinions don’t change. I played Origins first and of course hated him because he’s the bad guy and they want you to hate him but then when i read The Stolen Throne I loved his character in that, he was so relatable and his story and his romance with Rowen broke my heart. It made me feel bad for him in Origins instead of hating him and wanting to know what happened to make him change so much.

Game of Thrones: Jaime Lannister. Pretty much most people who watch the show can relate to this. His character development is so great and he changes so much you go from hating his guts and wishing his death to rooting for him. Also the Hound, I love the Hound now. I never really hated him but i didn’t really like him at first either. 

Arrowverse: Laurel Lance. I hated her basically the entire time until she picked up her sister’s mantle as Black Canary. She was an annoyance and a whiny bitch who I literally just couldn’t stand any scene she was in and wished she would die. its ironic that they killed her once she got likable. Also like Black Siren and i didn’t think I would. 

Three OTPs:

Dragon Age: Zevran/Mahariel, Isabela/Merrill, Fenris/Hawke

Game of Thrones: Jon Snow/Ygritte, Daenarys/Khal Drogo, Gendry/Arya

Arrowverse: Oliver/Felicity, Nathaniel/Amaya, Sara/Captain Cold

I tag @sassylavellen @annorarutherford @a-shakespearean-in-paris @enchantment1385 @heraldofwho