We don’t get to live here on Earth for a terribly long time. We’re mere blips to history, and even the most accomplished and well known among us one day will fall victim to the passing of eons. Therefore, holding onto poisonous relationships or traits or behaviors is an utter waste of time, and in order cut ties and to improve ourselves, we must rely on what we know, where we are now, and where we want to go in the future.

Chelsea Wolfe musically is a constantly evolving force who goes into each album with a different sonic idea and philosophical approach, which makes each new release something more exciting than just hearing new music. Her seventh record “She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She” is another bold reinvention, one that was formed on the basis of her present self reaching out to her past version and what she envisions for future in order to grow, change, and attain guidance. Musically, this is an ambitious, experimentally leaning record, but one that doesn’t betray her core and likely will hit hard with long-time listeners. I am one of those, and this album took me a few trips in order to absorb and align with what she does here, though every listen was an enthralling one. Wolfe again worked with multi-instrumentalist Ben Chisholm, drummer Jess Gowrie, and guitarist Bryan Tulao on these songs that find her warping, shredding, and reassembling these creations into new beasts that breathe fresh air, circulate hotter blood.

“Whispers in the Echo Chamber” begins with a squall and then agitated beats, Wolfe’s singing quivering, sounds enveloping. Guitars rupture as the chorus sweeps, Wolfe calling, “Undone, cut the cords, cut ties to yours,” as the scalding playing sweeps away. “House of Self-Undoing” is propulsive and punchy, the drums spattering, the synth playing games with your mind. The singing is muscular at times, breezy at others, the synth blares as the chugging playing chews at muscle, finally subsiding in the night. “Everything Turns Blue” is moody as beats reverberate, sounds mar, and you feel trapped in a strange dream. “To smoke, to dance, to fly, to breathe into the night,” Wolfe sings over the chorus, smeary and dreary melodies making your vision blurry, everything dissolving into a sound bath that makes you light headed. “Tunnel Lights” arrives with electro pulses and echoes, the singing glazing and entering into a fog, spirited into cloudy keyboards. It feels like deep nighttime has you in its clutches, moving even deeper into darkness as slumber calls you away. “The Liminal” brings gentle beats and Wolfe calling, “A voice to sing this aloud, let go of limits and doubt what, did you say all you wanted to say? Did you do all you wanted to do?” There are hushed moments but also some of Wolfe’s more direct singing as the playing haunts and swells, and finally the ambiance stokes fires as Wolfe finishes with, “I’m in your dreams, I’m in your song, now everybody sings along.”

“Eyes Like Nightshade” opens as beats trigger, sounds clash, and your mind feels like it’s being wiped. Blips laser as Wolfe’s singing crawls into your imagination, disrupting brain waves, making you reconsider your emotions. “Salt” mesmerizes with hypnotic singing, moody darkness spreading, the drums echoing and ricocheting off walls. “Salt, salt in our tears, salt, salt in our memories fall like ribbons of time,” Wolfe sings over the chorus, lapping like chilled waves, making your muscles quiver as the playing blends into time. “Unseen World” opens with drums pulsing and synth drizzling, a rush of sound acting like a sweeping wind that ripples your body. The atmosphere swells and becomes a major factor, the playing buzzes and creeps under your flesh, jolting and sizzling away. “Place in the Sun” dawns with fuzzy keys and solemn singing, Wolfe calling, “Safe with the one not so toilsome to love, I am safe in this body, safe in this heart.” The playing coats the mind, and Wolfe goes for a higher register in spots, dark energy spits, and then we’re hurtling through the cosmos, ending in heavy emotion. Closer “Dusk” is noise marred as the singing numbs, and the sounds take your imagination hostage. “Angels, vampires, one breathes life unto the other, branded, baptized by your love and by your hunger,” Wolfe calls, the gothic tones lathering in shadow. The guitars blaze, an element used judiciously throughout the record which makes them more impactful here, sounds zap, and everything is raptured in mystery.

Every time Wolfe releases new music, you practically need to get to know her all over again because she rarely ever does similar things more than once. “She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She” is another reinvention, this time in a phase that finds Wolfe presenting her magic in a dream-inducing, time-warping gasp, slicing and reattaching moving limbs into different forms that work as new beasts. This is a record that takes a few trips to fully digest, and even at that point, you still uncover things you didn’t the previous trips as this music keeps giving one precious gem after another.

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/cchelseawwolfe/

For more on the label, go here: https://i.chelseawolfe.com/SROTSROTS

To buy the album, go here: https://www.lomavistarecordings.com/