The time has finally arrived to check out Connecticut band Litvar‘s new record, Eloquently Aimless, which we’ve been hinting at for the last few months in our reviews of three album tracks ‘You Should Find A New Boyfriend’, ‘Alone (Not Lonely)’ and ‘Oh My God’. Now that this eleven track behemoth has arrived, we’d like to take you on a trip through its many valleys and peaks of cathartic energy.
The album opens with glitch-pop number ‘Saved Again’, which sets the tone for the band’s more experimental edge. Compared to their debut album, The Greatest Movie of All Time, there’s many more electronic elements thanks to Litvar‘s latest phase of creative evolution. The complex tapestry of bleeps and bloops meshes well with their 00s informed songwriting style. The mellow introduction eases you into the next single ‘Oh My God’, which is a much more bold and outspoken encouraging listeners not to settle for less than you’re worth. It’s a raw, emotionally-charged narrative full of thunderous drums and vigorous guitars. By the third track ‘All Those Minutes Ago’, it’s clear we’re on a stylistic rollercoaster as the soundscape lightens up again. We’re dropped into a beachy guitar strums and a playful melody that could sound like a simple upbeat song, but the sarcastic lyrics reveal a different story. As the band themselves state, the album’s third track “sarcastically tackles relationship problems, and constantly wanting to change everything about yourself.”
Let’s revisit one of those previously featured tracks, ‘You Should Find A New Boyfriend’, which still stands as one of our favourite ever releases from Litvar. It’s a refreshing blend of 00s indie-pop and contemporary pop-punk that leaves nothing at the door. This rockier anthem is jam-packed with complex emotions and indie-electro flourishes. Straight after this, another of our favourites is ‘Alone (Not Lonely)’. It’s such a dreamy indie gem that cuts straight to the heart of one of the modern era’s greatest problems – loneliness. Whether it’s the cryptic verses and bold, unfiltered choruses, we’re so engaged by the overall storyline of pessimism, romance, toxic relationships and bad timing.
As we enter the latter half of the record, it’s a real strong contender that sees the band at their most emotionally vulnerable in ‘If Nothing Awaits’. This one is firmly rooted in the mid-00s pop-meets-rock sound, from the brooding verses to the radio-ready chorus. It’s nihilistic honesty and we’re here for it. Next up is ‘Nightfall’, a distinctively different track that optimises some wavy alt-rock guitars, unfiltered acoustic strings, airy backing vocals, jangling percussion, melodic bass and a wide vocal range, not to mention the orchestral sample. This really shows the versatility that Litvar are capable of. Just when you think you’ve heard everything, ‘Everybody is Famous’ pops up. It’s another taste of their sarcastic songwriting as they muse on the state of fame and normalcy, while seamlessly pivoting from hazy pop to frenetic, fuzzy alt-rock.
Title-track ‘Eloquently Aimless’ introduces the final third of the album. While the story is an intriguing one of a supposedly trapped time-traveller, the real selling point here is the impressive lacing of drums, guitar, bass, and samples. It’s such a sonically rich showcase of the group’s iconic sound and at over four minutes, there’s plenty of time to luxuriate in their talent. Our penultimate listen is the timely ‘Artificial Intelligence’. This mediates on our technologically dependent society, but as an allegory for the emerging youth whose futures are full of questions and “maybes”. Naturally, the electronica works to sharpen up this character, but the band still add in a splash of indie-rock guitars to highlight the human side here too.
The closing number on Eloquently Aimless is ‘Maybe I’m Alive’, another surprise on this highly diverse collection of songs. It starts off with a simple acoustic guitar and slowly progresses towards an anthemic crescendo. The sensitive vocals directly speak to the listener, “so what, your bank account is low, / Alone, but not lonely anymore, / You may feel cursed, no day stays the same, / There’s gold at the top of the hill.” This message is just so perfect to end an album that explores mental health struggles, daily life difficulties, and romantic failures, but peppered throughout is the fact that all these obstacles have been overcome. The result is this brilliant album that we’re listening to right now. It’s one that will surely resonate with a wide audience, providing inspiration and comfort.
In short, Litvar explains what their latest release means to them: “The album explores feelings of crawling out of dark mental spaces, confronting ego, being unsure of yourself, and wanting to go back in time and change your mistakes.”
It’s clear that whatever Rex Thurstan (he/they), Violet Falkowski (she/they) and Joe Lemieux (he/they) have got, it’s special and we can’t wait to see where they go next.
You can find ‘All Those Minutes Ago’ in our Outsiders Club playlist.
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