While music is expression, it can also be the identity of an artist. Musicians such as GWAR and Lady Gaga have used their music to transcend themselves into avatars of their craft. This is the story of Synthia Looper, whose EP comes to us as the result of a journey to release music and express her authentic self in spite of any adversity thrown at her. Her self-titled EP begins with the track Sentient.
A distorted synth groove sets up an industrial feel, giving Looper’s echoing vocals an extra punch when they appear on the track. The deeper bass synths, along with the other grates and pulses of metallic noise come together well to create a haunting aesthetic. This style shines during moments that feel like a genuine descent, such as the outro, to bring you into a deeper emotional place that lyrics such as “let me connect with our minds, our circuits reflect, all that is divine” try to get to. While the track has a great personality in its synths, the lyrics don’t stick as hard on the first listen.
Brilliant Minds follows up Sentient with a pacing, reaching synth leads us to a gut punch set up when Looper starts singing “They may” and instantly grabs your attention. The creeping percussion feels insistently sinister when accompanied by the deep, distorted synths. There’s a great deal of musical surprises for the intent listener, making this track easy to listen to over and over again to discover the depth. The lyrical integrity here is also a leap from Sentient, with many memorable moments such as “welcome to the world of the hungry, this kind of shit’s ignored” and a catchy chorus that’s delivered with a delightful edge that compliments the overall aesthetic. All of this adds up to make Brilliant Minds a stand-out track on this EP.
The Ascent finishes off the EP with a powerful distorted synth to grip your attention immediately. The percussion hits hard soon after and is the perfect way to introduce Looper’s vocal performance. The vocals on this track prove to be the most different and impressive display on the EP, with an aesthetic that feel earned after listening to the first two tracks. Lyrics such as “racing thoughts, they love me not. Sleep has broken up with me” and the incredibly memorable chorus makes it easy to get lost in the aesthetic of the track, which has some great musical twists that again, feel like they’re earned when taking the whole package the EP presents into account. Another stand-out track and one that solidifies that sound of the artist.
While Sentient doesn’t make a great first impression, it grows on you after listening to Brilliant Minds and The Ascent and does a great job of setting up the mood of the EP. The aforementioned tracks following Sentient are both fantastic on first and repeat listens, with delightfully dark aesthetics that make great use of distorted synths and short stretches of surreal ambience to pull you into each track. These are juxtaposed by moments of intensity that pull you away from the slow drifts that tracks such as The Ascent send you on to give each track their own edge. With vocal performances that show off a nice aesthetic range on each track, Synthia Looper’s freshman EP proves to be one that leaves a lasting impression that will leave those who enjoy it wanting more.
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