Brooklyn sound sculptor Bill Gillam first appeared as
Megafortress with a self-titled 2012 EP. The four songs there were floating meditations that found him stacking tracks of falsetto vocals, looming synthesizers, and random percussion into densely packed experimental pop tunes. The woozy, sometimes impenetrable sounds that made up the EP are stripped down to their essence for his first full-length
Believer. Gillam no longer relies on the clouds of synth and dreamy walls of vocals, opening the record instead with a solid minute of long airy saxophone clusters before "Live in Grace" begins with an extremely unaffected solitary vocal high in the mix, Gillam delivering his lyrics from high atop a tower of submerged electronics. Springy double bass and fluttering woodwinds support the rare falsetto vocal of "Fear," while bubbling, claustrophobic electronic patterns and relentless beats fill all available space on "New Becomer." "Murderer" is perhaps the most recognizable moment of pop on the album, finding a happy middle ground between free-floating soft ambience and an enormous beat as a backdrop for Gillam's heavy-hearted vocals and the occasional, glitchy, computery, micro-sonic breakdown. Sounds and approaches shift often, but at the center of it all, Gillam sounds out honestly and right from the heart, from the ever-spiraling instrumentals to the loneliest vocal passes. There's a sense of presence and vulnerability throughout
Believer that feels almost religious, though no mention of faith makes its way into these extremely pretty-sounding songs of anxiety and confusion. Through its layers of complexity and simplicity, none of the songs on
Believer really find much resolution, but instead keep us suspended, feeling like we’re looking directly into Gillam's brain mid-thought.