Miss Grit - Under My Umbrella Review
A dense, theatrical rush of synths and emotion that captures the freedom of the stage while teetering on the edge of excess.
In their new album Under My Umbrella, Miss Grit hones in on a sound a lot of artists have been reaching for. New York-based Miss Grit- or Margaret Sohn (they/she)- returned from an extensive North American tour, in which they drove across the country solo. Upon returning home, they set out to create an album that conveyed the intensity and freedom of live performance, and have definitely hit that mark in this release.
The result is a whole-album experience that allows a listener to be fully immersed in a world of maximalism and angst. It’s sculptural and sound-led, earnest nearly to the point of poetic indulgence. There’s a theatricism in its rising synths and techno throb, as the songs blend into one another- it’s no surprise that collaborator Sae Heum Han has a background in film scoring, working alongside producer Luciano Rossi, drummer Reston Fulks, and Aron Kobayashi, who mixed the album. Though well-honed, the piece retains an unrestrainedness, with many of the guitar sounds and vocals included being first takes to uphold the closeness and reality of a gig.
The album opens with the autotuned epic ‘Tourist Mind’, balancing strings with industrial techno before the indie rock kicks in. Sohn repeats “I’ve never wanted to be so alone” on a loop, and the sound burrows into itself over the pulsing instrumental. ‘Mind Disaster’ follows, an instantly palpable anxiety record that adds to the dystopian space-pop soundscape. Sohn named this track as “the one that really helped create the palette for the rest of the album”, in which editing was kept minimal in pursuit of an unrestricted approach. That sense of freedom is built upon in ‘Where Is My Head’, whose computerised emotion and dark harmonies epitomise a sense of the artist losing their grip. This is nightdwelling indie pop at its cathartic best.
The record nears predictability at times, with futuristic dissonance becoming its trademark. ‘You Will Change’ verges on this in its organ-like trill, but manages to maintain interest with twisting and turning electronica. Sohn’s outpouring of emotion culminates in the final track, ‘Waste Me’, which ends on an optimistic note. As a whole work, Under My Umbrella relishes in its own achievement of such a specific, rich sound, and clearly showcases the work Miss Grit hasput into their craft.