REVIEW: Nature Shots, "Foreclosure"
With a title that evokes the feeling of an ending and despair of sorts, Nature Shots’ Michi Tassey draws out the beauty in finality interspersed with a dreamy look as to what’s next. This is the first recorded solo effort from Tassey, who is otherwise occupied with the notably more guitar heavy, emo-adjacent People Like You.
Were there to be a single word to encapsulate Foreclosure, it’d be “ethereal.” However, the beauty of the album comes from the fact that it can’t be boiled down to a word, or a genre, but instead shines through the layering of emotions. Massey is able to clearly convey sorrow, longing, and desperation in a way that savors them but doesn’t wallow. Her voice is wistful, yet powerful, and the piano that drives the songs is compelling, creating an encompassing sound that’s simultaneously minimalistic by using the negative space between the instruments as an instrument of its own.
There’s a church like tone throughout Foreclosure, the songs playing out like a distorted hymn. It’s not a strict or traditional religious vibe, but draws from the kind of desperation that can turn one to prayer, to seek out comfort where no tangible one can be found. “What is the Word for When You are Screaming but No One Can Hear” starts out with a tense note repeated and blooms into arpeggios and fades in and out, punctuated by dissonant guitar and and Tassey’s voice compelling you, “mama, mama, mama, please don’t cry.”
“Fickle Folly” does a perfect job as a final track, evoking a near playground like melody. “I still hear you singing to me,” rings out as the lyric that closes the album, turning towards a hope in loss and in an ending, while still letting that sorrow be felt wholly.
Foreclosure is a breathtaking collection of songs and a solid initial solo effort from Tassey. It serves catharsis not through ferocity or anger, but a kind of complex yearning. Even with all of the layers, musically and emotionally, the album serves up something tangible and whole — no easy task when taking on the nuance of loss and grieving.
photo by Adam Frizzell
It serves to be noted that this album was produced, recorded, and mixed by Cam Boucher, albeit before his recent outing as an abuser and unsafe person. I, and Hooligan on whole, do not endorse Boucher in any way and actively condemn instances of emotional, physical, mental, and sexual abuse. Instead, let this serve to focus this on Tassey who was unaware of these actions during the process of making Foreclosure.