The White Mare - "Understand That Life Is Meaningless and We Must Take Pleasure Where We Can"

As obscure and often heady as noise can be, there are a few projects that can display the core of fraught emotions at the center. Powerful noise performances can feel utterly cathartic and unhinged, channeling something into a shared space. The Sydney, Australia based The White Mare, the emotional input and catharsis is on full display here, a building wall of harsh noise breaks wide open into a spoken word piece that the artist describes as “emotional breakdown on record.” It certainly feels that way. Alex Woollam’s voice is then joined by the harsh noise wall coming back in an even nastier, completely punishing way. The sentiment in "Understand That Life Is Meaningless and We Must Take Pleasure Where We Can" is perfectly summarizing title. While there may be little pleasure on this track, the other side of catharsis may offer some.