Not all birthday parties are happy occasions. For many people, days are melancholic days of remembrance of things past, missed opportunities…
This seems to be the feeling you get from the latest album from Brooklyn-based composer Cassie Wieland (aka Vines), who gave that seemingly simple title to it – Birthday Party.
Previously, Wieland mostly composed music for other artists to perform, but here she makes it truly personal – it includes her voice, mostly using vocoder modulation to create that melancholic, longing effect that fits the compositional style presented here perfectly.
The music Wieland creates here is neo-classically based, veiled in ambiental arrangements that give it that undefined feel between light and dark, creating a parallel mood in the listener to a great effect. Throughout the eight compositions here, Wieland creates an intricate musical web that unveils its details with every new play creating exactly that melancholic, longing she was after.
Birthday Party turns out to be a very personal, vulnerable record, yet one that can effectively reach any listener who ventures into its intricate music.
