On first inspection, Khonnor’s debut album may seem like an odd choice for a label like Type. But as more and more titles are announced it becomes increasingly apparent that this highly artistic record label is far more interested in experimentation and diversity than in defining any rigid image or style for itself.
Unlike previous offerings from Type, Handwriting is more of an indie electronic record than anything else mixing as it does guitar, vocals and hefty quantities of electronics and digital manipulation in short but very sweet doses.
This is yet another Type release that the listener can appreciate all the more by knowing at least a little about it’s genesis. The many already published reviews of Handwriting have all pointed out that Connor Kirby-Long (from Vermont in the US) is still just 17, as if this piece of information is somehow necessary to excuse or explain any of the supposedly less than mature elements of the recording. If such elements actually exist at all they’re certainly not obvious.
The fact is that Handwriting is an exceptionally impressive and moving debut album from an artist so young and, interestingly, with such a limited range of equipment to hand. What do you do if you want to release a professional sounding album when you only have a few acoustic instruments, an old PC, a microphone from an old Learn Japanese set and a single PC speaker to hand?
Whether the textures and production qualities of the finished product are an attempt to cover up the limitations of Khonnor’s source material or an immediate creative decision is rendered irrelevant by the overwhelming success of Handwriting. The fact that Khonnor has made a virtue of the technical limitations imposed upon him by adding swathes of digital noise, distortion, very heavy reverb and clever vocal effects in rich, thick and complex layers is a sign of great ambition and determination, the result of which is a unique and very endearing style.
This almost ubiquitous distortion and noise has been applied in various ways and to varying degrees, cleverly enhancing tone, atmosphere and texture. “Man From The Anthill” is a prime example, consisting almost entirely of digital distortion and white noise, the maelstrom of overdubs and de-tuned radio mess building until its the only thing audible. The opening vocals of the gorgeous “An Ape Is Loose” are almost completely unintelligible amidst the thick haze of ambient noise and looped guitar that floats above them, but mid-way through it all but completely dissolves,
allowing Khonnor’s hauntingly reverbed voice through.
In those moments where the mist of distortion clears temporarily, Khonnor’s beautifully constructed, melancholic and ultimately optimistic melodies really shine through. The lovely fretted guitar work on “Dusty” is the perfect accompaniment to the delicate strings and Khonnor’s half heard whisperings, there are shades of Manual present in the lilting guitar on “Crapstone,” a song about nothing more than the contents of the pockets in a fleece-lined jacket, and “A Little Secret” is a refreshing indie-pop song with a genuinely addictive hook.
Or there’s the exquisite “Megan’s Present,” the opening breeze of which bursts into glittering synths before coming to the opening vocal lines sung by Connor in a breathless, bunged-up manner, as if to suggest he was actually ill when he sang it.
On first listen, moments of Handwriting can really surprise you. The often-unorthodox melodies frequently take unexpected and very mature turns and are, by and large, so memorable they’re difficult to shake off. The dark humor of the paradoxically jaunty “Kill2” for example, with it’s ticking build-up of piano and wrist-slashing lyrics, then bursts through the speakers with a repeated chorus that at first doesn’t somehow seem to work but which on repeated listens sounds completely natural and obvious.
All of the above creates the wonderfully dreamlike experience that is Handwriting.
At once ambitious, honest, funny, dark, nostalgic and direct, Handwriting is an unflinching, melancholy, yet ultimately optimistic album that avoids the pretentious trappings of self-indulgent introspection with an intelligence and maturity of which budding singer/songwriters would do well to take note.
Handwriting will be available on Type Records late October.
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For those who wish to sample or extend the Khonnor experience a little further, you can freely download both the Lost Pets and Live From Saint Johnsbury EP’s, both of which are in the Handwriting style – the former consisting of instrumentals and the latter three vocal works including “Crapstone.” Additionally, you can also download Connor’s three EP’s recorded under the moniker Grandma from the online Monotonik label.
