Review: Alexis Marshall – House of Lull . House of When

Coming off one of the most important and great pieces of art in the last decade, Marshall of noise-rock outfit Daughters releases his debut independent project. Going into the album, like many others as I would expect, I did have high expectations for this release because of Daughters’ consistently exemplary album output. However, I did still consider that this would be much more different of a record, so I was more conscious of the individualized direction of this project and the difference that would come with that. With that being said, Marshall’s focus on lyrical content shines through, minimalizing much of his instrumentals to hard-hitting, industrial, no-wave type beats. It is less cohesive as a project than YWGWYW in that it does not render much of a full-fledged experience. However, Marshall still transports the listener to the same black and white world of harsh realities and brutalist architecture (my imagination). Track-by-track analysis:

Drink from the Oceans . Nothing Can Harm You – Marshall introduces the project with a phenomenally eerie 15-second silence followed by slow piano chords. Eventually, these soaring, sad wind instruments and his squelching voice join in. The song spirals into a brutally noisy screamed quatrain poem concerned with the past. There are motifs of human parts like flesh, hand, skeleton, foot, combined with the idea that the past is something that stays with one forever, it is “like an anchor.”

Hounds in the Abyss – The stark transition to this second track immediately brings up the aura of Daughters. Still, the noise-rock instrumental is more repetitive and slow than that of a Daughters track. This was one of his teaser tracks that feels like a great representation of the album. It is stripped back into its post-punk and industrial elements. The repetitive lyrics present a horrifying story/interrogation of a possible stalker, constantly asking the stalker “are you?” This feels like a horror story in song form as Marshall says he hears the stalker coming at the very end, devolving to telling them to just come.

It Just Doesn’t Feel Good Anymore – An extremely messy song with a wailing horse sound made out of instruments spread across the song. It’s a truly uncomfortable experience. Marshall yells at the listener to be responsible for their lives, but he could be mocking the demands people in his life have imposed on him. Actually, from a recent interview, he said that it was what pandemic restrictions felt like when COVID hit the US.

Youth as Religion . – One of the softer introductions, this is a spoken-word track showcasing commentary about God. Marshall says that God finds us in a lot of different situations, combining it with the motif of fevers and the attributes that constitute such discomfort (fever dreams, insomnia, lack of time perception, etc.).

Religion as Leader – With a clear connection to the preceding track, this one is a musicalized version of the last. Marshall uses the same lyrics with a different structure. The instrumental includes a lot of clashing noises from metal bangs to harsh feedback separated by some segments of silence. Lingua Ignota’s voice joins Marshall as they scream “Young man you have no other” and “Your fever swings” repeatedly to the end.

No Truth in the Body – A heavily reverbed, low piano introduces this song to accompany a few “captions calling out.” The lyrics present as the most abstract poem of the entire album. Marshall starts with his caption questions, then some subject-less actions, and then a repetition of lines talking about fire making merry men hurt, lose sight, or crumble. He ends with “She would take me away, / Though I cannot leave.”

Open Mouth – Open Mouth begins with some screeching, squeaking wind instruments. Then, the noise-rock instrumental rolls in with some wavy echoes of guitar rips. Probably the most Daughters-like track, the crushingly fast and syncopated pangs of sound immerse the listener as Marshall questions his world and if there is a next.

They Can Lie There Forever – As the shortest song on the record, it allows Marshall to deliver some long lines fast, creating a very urgent feeling. All of a sudden, the noise-rock march engulfs the listener. The lyrics here are really abstract, but I can make out an interpretation of driving in the night and hitting a deer and feeling deeply guilty.

Night Moving – Marshall repeats “old habits” seven times at the beginning and end of this concluding track. This surrounds a tercet of vague occurrences of someone’s life (reminds me of the Paul character from Daughters albums) and observations. The song gradually becomes a ginormous haze of fuzzy feedback that quickly peters out into the deep, dark piano you forgot was ever there.

House of Lull . House of When stands as a truly dark, introspective record that Marshall has here. It is even more abstract than the last Daughters album because of the minimalist instrumentals and extreme focus on lyrics and story-telling. The highly interpretable songs all place the listener in this horrifying world of suffering, discomfort, and noise. All the production was meticulously planned and played a vital role in setting such an eerie atmosphere. However, some of the instrumentals bring in some ear-destroying high-pitched and just flat-out weird sounds that made some songs unlistenable for me. It made me feel like I took a tour of the person’s brain that created an album that took me on a tour through hell (YWGWYW).

Score: 8.6

Favorite Tracks: Open Mouth & Night Moving

Least Favorite: It Just Doesn’t Feel Good Anymore