As we are approach the holidays, with all the opportunities of 2024 ahead, it’s time to reflect on the music brought forth by seemingly infinitesimal talent over this past year. We are truly living in an era of creative content — the bulk of which might slip you by if your algorithm doesn’t serve it up!
In our opinion, it’s the perfect time of year to pay credit where it’s due.
One such deserving artist is two-time GRAMMY-nominee K.Flay, introducing her fifth full-length album to the world back in mid-September. Appropriately titled MONO, this 14-track flow of consciousness dives deep into K.Flay’s 2022 labyrinthitis diagnosis that resulted in the total loss of hearing in her right ear. As a performer, it’s kind of hard to say ‘deafness be damned’ and continue on. Yet, K.Flay perseveres in musical ‘mono’ mode while we bump her new tracks out our stereo. With a diagnosis so sudden and so severe, one could only cope by asking “Are You Serious?” — the disconsolate intro to the album.
From being dicked around by doctors to a total perception adjustment, K.Flay returns fiercer than ever.
Instead of throwing in the cards or crawling into a bottle, K.Flay pours her distressed experiences into an album wrought with ferocity, posing paradoxical questions of existence wrapped in wit and rigor alongside laments that crawl up your spine. From her queerness to sobriety, from taking part in a capitalist society, from hiding away her constant anxiety — this is K.Flay distilled in her purest form.
It’s no surprise that the lead single off this personal epoch is entitled “Raw Raw”. She’s “peeling back her skin”, “exposed”, and alone. She’s “pulled the stitches out again” for listeners to get a look at the gooey innards of her psyche. As tormented as it sounds, this is as close to a love song that K.Flay gets; she’s commending, in her own edgy way, someone who has broken through her barriers to get a glimpse of the mess inside… without judgement.
As the album progresses, it’s clear that K.Flay strays from her hip hop roots for a harder tonality… although ingenious rhymes sneak in throughout. The tempo of most songs is disjointed — a clear homage to how it feels at this critical point in her life. Executive produced by Paul Meany (Twenty-One Pilots, Shania Twain) and K.Flay herself, this existential masterpiece features contributions by Pierce the Veil‘s Vic Fuentes and Kid Sistr.
And, let us tell you, there is no better way to commemorate this insane album than by buying it on vinyl.
With a coke-bottle clear pressing (that looks like it could almost glow in the dark… another metaphor to K.Flay’s positive spin on dark times???), the vinyl version of MONO is exquisite. A reduction in sound quality produced by playing a physical LP versus the lossless audio we’ve all grown so accustomed to via streaming services? If there was ever an analogy to K.Flay’s situation, this is it.
K.Flay will undoubtedly forge onward, as she always has, advocating for mental health, social rights, and whatever else needs fixing in this mad world of ours. Until the next opus comes to light, make sure to enjoy the unadulterated authenticity of MONO to the fullest.
Purchase or stream ‘MONO’ album:
Track listing:
- Are You Serious?
- Raw Raw
- Punisher
- Irish Goodbye, feat. Vic Fuentes of Pierce the Veil
- Hustler
- Spaghetti, feat. Kid Sistr
- Bar Soap
- Watch Me Pt. 1
- In America
- Shy
- Watch Me Pt. 2
- Chaos Is Love
- Yes I’m Serious
- Perfectly Alone
K.Flay — “Raw Raw”
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Disclaimer: All views presented in this album review are those of the reviewer and not necessarily those of Top Shelf Music.
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