Pallas Athene
PALLAS ATHENE RELEASES SELF-TITLED EP
Ethereal alt-pop singer-songwriter Pallas Athene released her self-titled debut EP a few days ago.
Pallas Athene
Explaining the EP, she says, “Making this record entirely on my own was a super dark and liberating process for me. I had to learn music production from the ground up, so this EP ended up taking me almost three years to complete. Because of my struggles with anxiety, sensory-processing and technological overwhelm, it felt natural to explore the themes of man vs machine and the dissolution of Self within these songs. This EP is a direct reflection of my feelings of isolation and restriction in both the physical and digital world.”
The brainchild of Breanna Johnston, Pallas Athene spent years playing in folk and rock bands. Things changed in 2014, when she suffered a hand injury in a construction accident. While rehabbing, she was forced to set aside the guitar to facilitate her recovery. During the interruption, she began making electronic music.
In 2016, she recorded her debut single, “What I Want,” which was picked up by FatCat Records as a demo feature and released a few months ago on the Brought to Light Vol. 1 Compilation.
According to her website, “Ultimately, Pallas Athene is the result of introspection, isolation, and rehabilitation.”
Almost dirge-like, “The Wall” thrums with cold, searing, droning tones, as Athene’s wickedly forlorn tones imbue the dripping melody with spine-tingling savors.
Comprising five-tracks, the EP starts off with “Through Hell,” which Pallas Athene explains as “sort of a cathartic lullaby to myself, a reminder to release and accept what I can’t change, or it will bury me. It’s the process of finding out that there is no way back, and that the only way forward is through.”
“Through Hell” opens on a somber piano riding a measured austere rhythm topped by high piercing vocal tones, drifting on gossamer filaments. Palpable with desolate resolve, Athene’s voice infuses the lyrics with nuances of secluded uneasiness.
“Whatever it is / That follows / All we’ve left below / Well we could raise it up / To bring it back / But, we’ve gotta let it go / Through hell / Through hell / On the way / To forever.”
Almost dirge-like, “The Wall” thrums with cold, searing, droning tones, as Athene’s wickedly forlorn tones imbue the dripping melody with spine-tingling savors. “Saturn’s Return” travels on dark oozing industrial-flavored intonations, radiating edgy colors trembling on mechanical textures.
“Communion,” featuring Dollarstone Keyboards, ripples with gentle humming hues topped by shimmering effects, streaming and undulating on starkly chilling surfaces. “In Silence” rides cavernous thumps capped by tight opaque droning synths, while Athene’s wonderfully baleful voice injects the lyrics with wafting stoic resignation.
Pallas Athene, although suffused with bleak, dark energy, is excellent, presenting an enquiring sonic vista, strange as a dream and pregnant with mysterious emotional loneliness.
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