Rocker (feedbot)
Gold Member
The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die have spent over fifteen years establishing themselves as one of the core pillars of emo revivalism. ‘Dreams Of Being Dust’, the band’s fifth full-length offering, is filled with the hypnotic atmosphere that fans of the band will be expecting, but with an added layer of grit. This isn’t a departure for The World Is A Beautiful Place, but it feels like a fresh perspective on a well-trodden path.
Opening track ‘Dimmed Sun’ throws us immediately into a harsher, more angular mood that fans may be expecting. It’s still atmospheric – but we’re in the middle of a storm. Friction sticks hairs on end. Every hit of skuzzed out bass and guitars is felt. Still, lead vocalist David Bello’s voice floats melodically over the surface, seemingly unaffected by the churning below.
‘Se Sufre Pero Se Goza’ is the single that The World Is A Beautiful Place used to announce the album. Almost a mission statement, it carries that same sense that the atmosphere is becoming unforgiving. This is far more punk than The World Is A Beautiful Place have traditionally been. The name itself translates to ‘You suffer but you enjoy’ – both a promise and a threat. The song closes with the screamed line, ‘Unconsoled by any music / I am no longer afraid’. It’s self-referential, and defines the album’s emotional tone.
It was ‘Beware The Centrist’ that actually released first. Fast-paced, dissonant, and brimming with anxiety. The vocals are screamed – including by keyboardist and vocalist Katie Dvorak, whose contributions have until this point been soft and dreamlike. As with ‘Se Sufre Pero Se Goza’, ‘Beware The Centrist’ is The World Is A Beautiful Place engaging directly with fraught political realities. The world has become a little less beautiful, and ‘Dreams Of Being Dust’ feels like an acknowledgement of that fact.
‘Dissolving’, whose lyrics give ‘Dreams Of Being Dust’ its name, is a song of two halves. The first is awash with guitars, Bello’s vocals providing a melodic core. The guitars hold whispers of dissonance, with occasional tritone notes disrupting an otherwise euphonic atmosphere. A reminder that the band are determined to change their mood. The second half is big, drums and bass kicking in at the midway. Dvorak and Bello harmonise together until we’re left with Bello repeatedly chanting the words, ‘I’m dissolving’.
It’s notable that ‘Dreams Of Being Dust’ is the only album by The World Is A Beautiful Place not to feature a successor to the shorter ‘Blank’ series. There is still one callback to their iconic album ‘Harmlessness’ – ‘December 4, 2024’, a spiritual sequel to that album’s single ‘January 10, 2014’. It’s here that we can maybe pick out the changes the band are going to. It’s darker, heavier. There’s a distinct note of dissonance that runs through this album. The math rock elements aren’t gone, but are a little more frantic. More anxious.
That seems to be the message The World Is A Beautiful Place are trying to send with this album. Previous offerings have crafted beautiful atmospheric music, but those atmospheres have been sealed. Insular. ‘Dreams Of Being Dust’ is the band bringing the material world into their music, allowing it to twist it into something darker. It isn’t a departure – it’s a deliberate staining. The result is haunting.
WILL BRIGHT
Opening track ‘Dimmed Sun’ throws us immediately into a harsher, more angular mood that fans may be expecting. It’s still atmospheric – but we’re in the middle of a storm. Friction sticks hairs on end. Every hit of skuzzed out bass and guitars is felt. Still, lead vocalist David Bello’s voice floats melodically over the surface, seemingly unaffected by the churning below.
‘Se Sufre Pero Se Goza’ is the single that The World Is A Beautiful Place used to announce the album. Almost a mission statement, it carries that same sense that the atmosphere is becoming unforgiving. This is far more punk than The World Is A Beautiful Place have traditionally been. The name itself translates to ‘You suffer but you enjoy’ – both a promise and a threat. The song closes with the screamed line, ‘Unconsoled by any music / I am no longer afraid’. It’s self-referential, and defines the album’s emotional tone.
It was ‘Beware The Centrist’ that actually released first. Fast-paced, dissonant, and brimming with anxiety. The vocals are screamed – including by keyboardist and vocalist Katie Dvorak, whose contributions have until this point been soft and dreamlike. As with ‘Se Sufre Pero Se Goza’, ‘Beware The Centrist’ is The World Is A Beautiful Place engaging directly with fraught political realities. The world has become a little less beautiful, and ‘Dreams Of Being Dust’ feels like an acknowledgement of that fact.
‘Dissolving’, whose lyrics give ‘Dreams Of Being Dust’ its name, is a song of two halves. The first is awash with guitars, Bello’s vocals providing a melodic core. The guitars hold whispers of dissonance, with occasional tritone notes disrupting an otherwise euphonic atmosphere. A reminder that the band are determined to change their mood. The second half is big, drums and bass kicking in at the midway. Dvorak and Bello harmonise together until we’re left with Bello repeatedly chanting the words, ‘I’m dissolving’.
It’s notable that ‘Dreams Of Being Dust’ is the only album by The World Is A Beautiful Place not to feature a successor to the shorter ‘Blank’ series. There is still one callback to their iconic album ‘Harmlessness’ – ‘December 4, 2024’, a spiritual sequel to that album’s single ‘January 10, 2014’. It’s here that we can maybe pick out the changes the band are going to. It’s darker, heavier. There’s a distinct note of dissonance that runs through this album. The math rock elements aren’t gone, but are a little more frantic. More anxious.
That seems to be the message The World Is A Beautiful Place are trying to send with this album. Previous offerings have crafted beautiful atmospheric music, but those atmospheres have been sealed. Insular. ‘Dreams Of Being Dust’ is the band bringing the material world into their music, allowing it to twist it into something darker. It isn’t a departure – it’s a deliberate staining. The result is haunting.
WILL BRIGHT