Abel – Music to Ground Yourself

Like the warmest blanket on the coldest fall day, Abel’s even more vulnerable and densely emotional follow-up to Happy Belated has arrived just in time. On Music to Ground Yourself, Abel has dug deeper into its psyche to deliver an intimately accessible LP. A record that, at times, leaves you stranded in the cold battling your own demons but also wraps you with the serene warmth of the band’s DIY-crafted symphony of fuzzy guitars, deliberately dissonant key strikes and heartbeat drumming. Much like how the fall can offer a bitter warning of the cold to come, Abel is here to comfort and confront you with life’s harsh realties in a wildly mature format for a sophomore album release.

With the delivery of its second album, Abel is most definitely taking a step in the right direction on Music to Ground Yourself. There is an overwhelming sense of maturity in essentially every aspect of the music, from the sensitive lyrics to mountains of lush textures that the band is able to create through their wavering lyrics and sonics. The emotional surfaces that Abel is weaving are intricate and aplenty, ranging from conspicuously contemplative (“My Fingers Speak…,” “Capo 3”) to realistically depressing (“Mad River,” “Make Yourself Tall”).

A development in Abel’s musical texture that is sprinkled throughout Music to Ground Yourself is the extremely warped nature of songs such as “Free Dog” and “…Use the Leaves.” These are songs that rely on a change in volume and shift in composition to accentuate act changes throughout the LP’s 12 tracks. Both “Free Dog” and “…Use the Leaves” offer yet another intimate and introspective glimpse into the beautifully warped mind of Abel. 

Another emotional aspect I love about Abel’s music is how grounded it can make you feel. For me, the strongest foundational moment on Music to Ground Yourself came on instrumental track “…In an Echo.” Somber key strokes greet us, creating a wall of sound in your earphones that truly takes you for a trip. It captures the energy of a eulogy. It also comes right after the bogged down “Free Dog” and leads into the wildly psychedelic and funky “Sick,” representing a shift in the album’s texture and pacing. There is a definite change in energy at the halfway point, with “…In an Echo’s” choir-like tendencies causing it to soar above the highly desolate first half of the LP.

It’s shocking to me how I’ve gotten this far into the review without mentioning a lyric of Abel’s. This is a musical category that I believe puts this band in a league of its own amongst Columbus DIY acts. The maturity of Abel, I believe, is most evident in how the encompassing sounds on Music to Ground Yourself have as much power in weaving the narrative of the LP as its words. That’s not to say, however, that Abel’s lyricism should be dismissed on this record.

Something that has changed in Abel’s storytelling between Happy Belated and Music to Ground Yourself is how much more vivid, profound, and stark the scenes depicted are. And also the increased depth of the emotional palette. The depressed dystopian scenery depicted on tracks such as “Mad River,” “Bruised Eye,” and “Make Yourself Tall” seem deeply personal yet extremely relatable. Even the opening track, while almost entirely three minutes of instrumentals, still meanders a vocal warning of the feelings that are about to unfold on Music to Ground Yourself.

The aforementioned warning makes for a listening experience that feels like the album is building to a point where Abel is going to pour their heart out entirely, putting everything on the table. That point most certainly comes on the closer “Thank God.” The vulnerability is warm and welcomed, much like being wrapped up by your favorite blanket. This comparison felt right, as I spent the majority of my listening to this album curled up in bed at the initial shift of the seasons. Thus letting the crisp autumn wind sneak its way into the cracked window by my head, creating a comforting warmth most certainly matched by Music to Ground Yourself.

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