#54 Flork Reviews: IAmNøt - Changes (2022)

 

IAmNøt - Changes (2022)

by Flork

 

When you combine high quality production and mixing with cleverly-devised grooves and sequences, you get a result that stimulates rather than irritates. You also get Changes by IAmNøt, a high-energy mélange of dramatic highs and lows in every track that floats between techno and breakbeat. There are so many standouts on this album, like the propulsive Tell me the Reason, which kicks off the album with heavy grooves and drum beats, especially towards the end, and makes you feel as if you’re driving in heavy traffic through New York City. The adrenaline builds up to climatic levels, yet the song ends so sadly with Sofia repeating “nothing is real, nothing is real…” such a compelling ending, like being pumped with heavy doses of electricity by a defibrillator machine, but without the expected gasp for breath at the end.

 

 

Never mind though, since Chaos Spiritual Road keeps the party alive with dark and raunchy beats prevailing throughout the track. This is one of those standouts I mentioned a few sentences back. It is such a cool song that I want to drop acid and dance until 2024. It is so hypnotic and I’m more than pleased to learn that Sofia wrote, recorded, and produced the entire album herself. I correct myself, since there is one track that was co-written by Pkrek, who is also featured on Estrogen. Two tracks that I particularly like a lot are Valve and Save the Jungle. Both of these tracks pulse with energy, especially the latter with its fast-paced industrial tempo and layers of vocals.

 

 

But my personal favourite is 2020, a track which blends the sounds of the synth and guitar masterfully. It is here in this song precisely that Sofia’s message is delivered and she hits hard: We have an absolute right to be whoever we want. I am so sick and tired of being told what I am supposed to look like. This is not my body. This is not my name. This is not my personality. I want you to be the same as the one that went before. I am not, I refuse to be the same! So powerful and profound, and like every message she conveys on Changes, there is little room for misinterpretation. Yet Changes is not just about introspection, it’s also about enjoying the music and raising your heartbeat. Definitely one of the best releases to come out of Slovakia this year.