Thom Sonny Green - High Anxiety

Thom Sonny Green
High Anxiety
2016
Spotify

High Anxiety is the debut album from Alt-J drummer Thom Sonny Green, and while some of the elements from Alt-J remain on this massive record there is a total different spirit in much of this record. Many of the tracks feature names from places that Thom has been on Alt-J's massive world tour and the songs often inspire the loneliness that He would feel living life out of a hotel room. However it isn't all easy floating melancholy. "Beach" despite it's name is dark and ominous keeping you constantly off kilter. The track is reminiscent of those stumbling nights you barely remember save for flashes of the occasionally cool moments. High Anxiety is a title that many people have used in the past but rarely does it encapsulate so accurately just exactly what something is about. Green throughout the record seems to be freaking out, and there is little release He can find in the world or in music. Thus the music becomes more of a reflection of his experience rather than a shared one. "Grounds" has a very similar sound to the very beginning of Jamie xx's "Hold Tight" and captures that same sense of hurried anticipation, but it never takes the turn towards the light it just goes deeper and more introspective.

This may sound like a heady description, and it is, but when you listen to this album you will understand why. High Anxiety is so incredibly ambitious you almost want to give Green bonus points for actually having the balls to put something like this out. What you notice the most is that each track has a moment or two that are really special and could really go somewhere, but Green is flighty and lets those moments pass almost unrecognized. The beginning of "Preach" has this synth line that is simply wonderful, but where Green goes from there is confusing at best. The album could also use a great deal of editing. If Green would have dialed this down to 12 tracks, and just the real meat of those 12 you would find something very different and possibly amazing. That being said all the meandering does give High Anxiety this quality of being ever present, somewhere in the background hovering over you. High Anxiety may be as ambitious as it is massive and there are some really great elements here. If Green can really nail this sound, and vibe, down He is going to have some really great music for us in the future.

5.9 out of 10