by Ryan Haughey
Mike Powell, known to Bandcamp as closetjudas, tackles abstract concepts of presence, truth, and a lack of both. In the lo-fi non sequitur, closetjudas blasts fuzzed out guitars through what sounds like the tiniest speakers. The sharp, shrill lead guitar parts peek out from behind the extremeness of the rest of the instrumentation, balancing like a wavering tower, surrounded by clouds of spoken word excerpts.
The second track, “borders” is a raw and frustrated commentary on colonization and oppression. About halfway through the sub-two-minute track, a break in the distortion appears alongside a reversed message about the illusion of power among oppressors and the complacency of the masses that allow this continued oppression. The song breaks back into the hook, drum groove at the forefront, launching into the lyrics “no one wants to own up to the sham of their entitlement.”
Each of the first four songs on non sequitur is simply an expression, both lyrically and instrumentally. On “valkyries” distorted guitars support acoustic strumming along to a low-end heavy drum groove while a slow melody rings out.
The latter four tracks on the album are spoken essays that each dive into the ideas expressed in their former four counterparts. In addition to further exploring the themes of each track, the essays encourage listeners to go back and listen again to non sequitur, this time more consciously connecting with the lyrics and music.