Music Review: Margaret the Destroyer "death did not happen"

$1 to Download //
https://margaretthedestroyer.bandcamp.com/album/death-did-not-happen //

Margaret the Destroyer almost instantly became my new favorite artist as soon as I pressed play on "death did not happen".   The first track- "Floored"- has these acoustic strums to it and it seems overall like it is mellow.   Then it shifts into this darker place as it becomes full of distortion.   It hits that acoustic feel again before the end but nonetheless leaves me feeling like this is something I am glad I am listening to now.

The second song is called "Worms" though it repeats the line "Everything is kind of beautiful today".    Now, normally I would think that this line was spoken once, recorded and then played back a number of times but sometimes the way it is said you can tell it is different and sometimes the words even change ("kind of" can be omitted for example)  At some point you can hear what sounds like sobbing in the background.

This all jolts me back into reality as the crying gets louder- it comes through as a scream- and really just takes over the track for a bit.   It is vocals layered on other vocals but that shock of the screaming which leaves as abruptly as it appears is something that makes me wonder why more people are not talking about Margaret the Destroyer.    The vocal layer behind the one I already mentioned says "There are worms in my bed" and, yeah, that might be a problem.

After the harshness these soothing tones come out, almost like a church organ and for some reason between the loud and spoken parts of this it makes me think of Old Grey.   A couple of times the main hook changes to "anything is kind of beautiful today".   This song kind of makes me want to get a tattoo that says "Everything is kind of beautiful today".   Singing comes through now with the church organ sound and it is kind of beautiful.   The way the line is spoken I sometimes feel as if it is with more certainty than at other times.

"Exodus" is a captivating acoustic number that I can't really compare with any other person who has ever sang along to an acoustic guitar as this just doesn't seem so out of place on this album though it does feel different because it isn't surrounded by other songs which sound like it.    The final track- "All the Answers" has singing coupled with talking and some kind of howling which sounds like a trumpet or such but is likely just another vocal sound.   The speaking voice seems as if it is reading from something and it informs us that all religions have condemned wine and liquor to finish what has just been an out of the blue amazing album for me.

Sometimes I might think this but I don't often say it: I wonder why "death did not happen" is not on cassette.  (And the length of the songs is not a good excuse)   This just feels like something I would hear on cassette and I can think of a number of different labels this would fit in with so well.    I hope before the end of 2018 this sees a physical release on cassette but just wow.   This is one of those albums you want to listen to now while it just came out because if Margaret the Destroyer keeps making music you will be learning the name ultimately.