ReView: Mr.Kitty – Ephemeral0

Mr.Kitty
Album: Ephemeral
Category: Synthpop / Trap / EBM
Label: Negative Gain Productions
Release Date: 2019-03-08

Mr.Kitty – the synthpop moniker of Forrest LeMaire – is a synthpop workhorse, having released an album or EP every year since 2011, with the exception of 2018. He makes up for that missed year with Ephemeral, which clocks in at a whopping two hours spread over 30 tracks. It’s easy to just enjoy Mr.Kitty at a surface level, but things get weirder and darker as you dig at the lyrics, song titles, and album artwork. Even his live shows seem to be an assault of nonstop strobe lights and darkness, all of which seems to contradict the pure pop that comprises most of Mr.Kitty’s music. It can make for an odd experience as elements of house EDM and trap clash within the first two tracks, after which the album settles into its synthpop groove, set to themes of sadness and self-destruction. The production is relatively simple without a lot of moving parts, but he makes the most of what he does and spins pop songs that borrow elements from EBM and futurepop, while still making it sound like his own. LeMaire’s vocal effects complements the rest of the music, the higher pitches on tracks like “Be Alive,” “Bloodletting,” and “Hornet” almost making it barely sound like the same person. Of course, LeMaire is not doing anything groundbreaking, especially compared to his previous work, but it is remarkable that he is able to put create 30 tracks that all have something to make them memorable. There are many good songs on Ephemeral, but the quantity is also the album’s drawback, making it hard to sit through in its entirety. This is compounded by the subject matter as many of the tracks are about a friend’s suicide, along with tracks like “I Want to Hurt Myself” about self-harm and more suicide. This has been a constant in LeMaire’s music, but his other albums were shorter and had occasional songs that did not feel like it was wallowing in misery. All this is to say that Ephemeral can be emotionally draining, especially with the fact that it’s twice the length of his other albums. Despite that, it is really a minor issue that can be sidestepped just by listening to the album in smaller chunks, making Ephemeral an excellent entry in goth and synthpop.
 
Track list:

1. Wait
2. From Liquid
3. My Weak Side
4. Disconnect Lover
5. The View Isn’t the Same
6. Molt
7. Trauma
8. Melting Core
9. Empty Phases
10. I Want to Hurt Myself
11. Rain
12. Be Alive
13. Angel
14. Puzzle Heart (feat. 初音ミク)
15. Destruction of Us
16. Cyst
17. Bullet
18. Immurement
19. In Your Arms
20. Died On the Land
21. Home
22. Anguish
23. Bloodletting
24. Not Dead Yet
25. I Want to Hurt You
26. Whip
27. Hornet
28. Make It Right (feat. 滲音かこい)
29. Sanctum of Ash
30. I Did It All For You

 
Mr.Kitty
Facebook, Twitter, SoundCloud, Bandcamp, YouTube
Negative Gain Productions
Website, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube
 
Douglas Leach (nowandforalltime)