Façadisms by Rafael Anton Irisarri
Making sense of the complexities and contradictions of modern life in western societies
I'm absorbed in the artwork of Façadisms, the new album from Rafael Anton Irisarri. Having listened to the album a dozen times I find it cleverly reflects the artist's ambitions behind the music. Staring through that white-frame at a coastal ruin perched on the edge, its empty doorway (and missing back wall) revealing, promising, something more than the deep blue enigma beyond. The horizon, where sky meets sea, runs parallel with the top edge of what remains of this skeletal concrete structure, and for a fraction of a second I remember that, occasionally, things in life align, accidentally, intentionally or metaphorically.
With the artist's name spanning the lower foreground (in front of the white cut-out) and the album title hovering centre stage, we become aware of Irisarri's presence in the composition, giving us a glimpse into his psyche. All these layers: a snapshot, a childhood memory, an imagined projection, a deep-rooted belief, a moment of self-realisation. Using all caps in the justified typography, which usually infers shouting, the slender italic font instead speaks with a quiet, sage conviction, one wrought from experience and deep contemplation. Irisarri is a deep thinker and his work is always reliably conscientious, encouraging the listener to confront reality and temporality.
With my new album, FAÇADISMS, I want the audience to question what it truly means to live in a free society and to consider the hidden costs of that freedom. Are we genuinely free, or is this 'freedom' merely a façade designed to maintain existing systems of power and control?
Across eight tracks and 50 minutes, we're presented with an unravelling of the 'American Dream'...
...or, as I find it more fitting to call it, the 'American Myth'
Originally from Puerto Rico, the US citizen is well-placed to comment on this subject, and does so using his familiar multi-layered wall-of-sound. Comprising guitars, cello (by Julia Kent), wordless vocals and special effects, the result is heard in both quiet and turbulent passages, with the intensity of textures, tones, drones and volume affecting the message. It's the contrasts though that represent the points of self-awareness, as the flimsy façades fall away. A fine example is how the shifting drone of the opening tracks capture us numbly engaging in the daily grind, before the stirring vocal sounds that emerge on Control Your Soul's Desire for Freedom snap you out. At times like this, the sheer physicality of the sound can crush emotions. The melancholic Forever Ago is Now has the same effect. Sitting centrally, my fav track, the wispy Hollow, provides a period of restless respite; time to gather our senses.
In the context of western society, Irisarri explores the façades we build for ourselves:
Think[ing] about the personas we project online; the hyper-curated, manicured lives many present to the world through social media are not that different from the Potemkin villages designed to impress Catherine the Great. So, what happens when these façades start to crumble?
When façades crumble, disillusionment reigns. With the perpetual evolution of western society driven by money and power-hungry oligarchs, fascism is lurking round the corner. You may have wasted time and money adhering to western norms, maybe even learned some useful lessons, but ultimately, with awareness comes agency. Irisarri captures this bleak realisation perfectly, with his abrasive loops of sound reflecting the cyclical nature of our history. This is powerful music that forces us to wake up.