Alabaster DePlume's seventh album, A Blade Because a Blade Is Whole, presents a clear mission of healing and self-acceptance. Artist Angus Fairbairn invites listeners to explore their emotional journeys and embrace boldness. While some appreciate his open-hearted approach, others view his style as affectation. This album deviates from conventional music narratives, balancing between delight and skepticism. Highlights include the whimsical acoustic track Invincibility, reflecting the artist's unique perspective, which resembles a blend of sincerity with a lightweight aesthetic, creating a polarizing but engaging listening experience.
An album arriving with an explicit mission statement is an unusual occurrence, but to anyone familiar with Fairbairn and his work, the obvious response is: well, of course it does.
There are those who find his whole shtick delightful and inspiring, who would argue that it's not a shtick at all, merely the unguarded expression of an open-hearted personality.
Equally, there are sceptics, those for whom everything from his wacky stage name to his mission statements to the interviews that occasionally begin with him thanking the journalist for merely existing, carry the tang of affectation.
Admittedly an outlier, the acoustic guitar-driven Invincibility recalls the flower-power era's self-styled humble minstrel Donovan at his most whimsical.
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