Looking for a little discordant shredding to start kick off your week? Yes it’s Tuesday, but I had Labor Day off. From all things. But back to the previous prompt, if you need some beautiful disharmony, look no further than the new record from Edsel Axle, aka blog fav Rosali Middleman’s solo guitar project. Her new album Variable Happiness is out now via Worried Songs, and most likely going to be featured in my Recommended Albums of September 2023.

The song I’ve chosen in particular here is “Some Answer”, the opener for the record. Putting it on a few weeks back gave me a kind of magical feeling, one that harkened back to times like when I listened to The Dirty Three for the first time. Layers of bending and wilting guitar pile onto one another, washing ashore and receding like the current. There’s a recurring, trembling passage that works its way into the mix throughout the song as well, adding depth and color to the churning guitar passages. To some the dissonance might feel overwhelmingly ugly, but I was struck by a sense of awe & beauty I haven’t felt in a while listening to new music. Love this track.

Listen to this + buy Variable Happiness via Bandcamp below.