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Swansea Skag’s latest album, the fundamentals of disappearing, is a masterclass in the marriage of organic and electronic sounds. Swansea Skag has learned how to paint with production, decorating acoustic arrangements with synthetic fixings to bring out the cutting edge of earnestness. 

The album opener, “what’s underneath,” introduces listeners to this style seamlessly, beginning with a classic pairing of acoustic guitar and raw vocals, then slowly disintegrating the track into careful chaos. Swansea Skag artfully chips at the foundation he's created, driving the vocals through distortion and adding industrial percussion alongside a groaning synth bass. It’s handpicked anarchy, revealing as much about Swansea Skag’s meticulous production chops as it does about the meaning of “what’s underneath.” The lyrics nod to a mind-odyssey exploration comparable to the intrepid production as the artist sings, “Let’s dissect them / every pause… I’ll bet they’re adding up all your flaws / What’s underneath, I can’t complain…” 

Tracks like “brown eyes” urge listeners further down this avant-garde pursuit. A lilting guitar is picked over dry, cold percussion and electronic ornamentations, as Skag spins through the phrase, “Does anyone know if it still feels like home?” Or there’s the layered vocal and synth bass power-pairing in “maybe i won’t get high” that leaves room for lyrical and sonic pondering. 

Lead single, “peace of mind,” leans more into a pop/alternative space, and features Godly the Ruler and Tommy Fleece. The song is basically one extrapolated hook, each new line playing off the catchiness of the last and making earworms out of vocals and synths alike. Godly the Ruler’s slight emo twinge and Tommy Fleece’s electronic-noise fusion are complimentary colors to Swansea Skag’s alt hyper-pop creation. He features the artists mykel online and spiderblush on the record, as well, inviting embellishments of other sounds. 

While hyperpop influences make a forward impression across the fundamentals of disappearing, tracks like “noisey” showcase Swansea Skag’s early 2000s heroes. The earnest melodies and glockenspiel decorations hint at The Strokes and Oasis, even as he spins the track into electronic bliss. 

Swansea Skag grasps at moments of nostalgia and documents them in artful disorder with the fundamentals of disappearing, tracing something soft with a snarl of distortion. With his visionary production skills and tasteful collaborations, we’ll be watching to see what Swansea Skag does next. 

Listen to the fundamentals of disappearing below: