[CRTQ005] Pesado by GL4M

*Bandcamp digital downloads include a bonus track*

From the sylvan outskirts of Washington, D.C. and based in the restless neighborhood of Koreatown, Los Angeles, Richard Kepler aka: GL4M is a Peruvian-German electronic producer focused on various forms of IDM stretching from adrenaline-rushed dance tracks to solitary, sluggish bass topped by rhythmic knocks and exasperated vocals. Against the backdrop of the darkest corners of our city, GL4M offers in his debut album a sonic autobiography of love lost and found, illustrated through heavy club tracks and atypical songwriting woven together by anecdotal interludes. “Pesado” embodies and carries the weight of love’s emotional highs and lows before arriving to the musical conclusion of real happiness coming from within rather than our surroundings or circumstances.

The tracks in their linear order navigate all the stages of an uprooted relationship, from initial shock and denial to grief and reluctant acceptance, and finally healing and self-affirmation. Compared to most other electronic records, “Pesado” is uniquely human and personal in its form and function; an account of mental health during a period that has adversely affected billions of people living all over the world.

Side A sets the stage for the saga; “Coming (Apart)” is a prologue of epic, mythological proportions followed by three chapters of rising action. “Transient” reflects the numbing and drifting state of shock followed by the title track “Pesado”, grappling with the futile efforts of moving on from a great loss. “Alone” acknowledges and confesses to the toxic apathy responsible for the ruin of something beautiful, pure, and fleeting.

Side B captures the full downward spiral while maintaining a sliver of hope for the pendulum to swing in the other direction. “Insane” is a rapid yet brutal backlash as sadness starts to get confused with anger. The mood changes transitioning to “Vor”, where delusion gives birth to hope that regresses back into the jaded abyss of “Katatonisch”. “The Edge” indicates rock bottom; it is a final recognition of the difference between the past and present.

Acceptance is the driving energy behind Side C, but the emotional scars are still fresh and influencing decisions made for better or for worse. The contrasting but equally invigorating styles of “Honeycomb” and “It’s All Around” wrestle with each other the same way that one takes turns suppressing and confronting their own psyche. This climax makes way for a new beginning like a phoenix rising from the ashes and taking flight.

The musical narrative is brought to the present moment on Side D where “Alila” signifies the beginning of the healing process born out of new inspiration. It is a moment of clarity that recovers the ability to appreciate beauty and be at peace with the world again. Memories of pain are replaced with those of joy, and apathy is overcome by thankfulness in the penultimate track “Forever Us”.

As internal stability is finally reached, the therapeutic epilogue of “Rhythm (Escape)” retrospects the full course of Pesado and serves as an affirmation of overcoming the heavy, mental burdens identified and addressed throughout the album’s chronicles. It subsequently becomes a mantra for preaching coexistence with the rhythm of the universe as a means of escape from the vicious cycles of mental illness.

A1 - Coming (Apart)
A2 - Transients
A3 - Pesado
A4 - Alone
B5 - Insane
B6 - Vor
B7 - Katatonisch
B8 - The Edge
C9 - Honeycomb
C10 - It's All Around
D11 - Alila
D12 - Forever Us
D13 - Rhythm (Escape)

From the sylvan outskirts of Washington, D.C. and based in the restless neighborhood of Koreatown, Los Angeles, Richard Kepler aka: GL4M is a Peruvian-German electronic producer focused on various forms of IDM stretching from adrenaline-rushed dance tracks to solitary, sluggish bass topped by rhythmic knocks and exasperated vocals.
@glamscasino