The fourth album by
Nate Brenner's free-spirited solo project,
Naytronix,
Other Possibilities retains the darker, more uncertain tone of its predecessor, 2019's
Air. Arriving in turbulent and often hostile sociopolitical times, both albums were co-produced with his
tUnE-yArDs bandmate
Merrill Garbus, who only emphasizes the project's impulsive, animated approach. From the opening moments of first track "Indigo," nothing is calm and collected. The song's playfully funky bass, loping percussion, whimsical sound effects, and gyrating guitar and synth (here, a Korg MS-20 by Mwahaha's Ross Peacock) establish a readjusted sense of normal for both the song and album that is illustrated by the opening lyrics, "There are times when it's hard to find a way/'Cause when it all goes crashing, bursting, thrashing, disarray...I try to go on moving, loving, grooving, go unbound." Warped, cartoonish vocals and wind effects enter the scene on the hip-hop-tipped "Die of Love," whose flittering drums are grounded by a sturdy bassline ("Everything falls apart if you just let it/Whether you want it or not"). Later, the paranoid "Be Aware" features a Moonlight Sonata-esque classical keyboard line repurposed by syncopated beats, another grooving bassline, and eventually a hyper-distorted guitar solo. Meanwhile, "Gratitude" is a brief instrumental interlude rather than an articulated gesture. The set ends with tracks called "Stranger," "Solitude," and "Give It Away," which maintain a whimsicality bordering on chaotic but which inevitably reel things in with steady grooves and, in the case of "Solitude," honed vocal harmonies ("In my solitude/Pretending I'm with you"). "Give It Away" almost offers a chant-along pop chorus to close but distorts it just enough to submerge it in tension and altered states. ~ Marcy Donelson