I’m in my Brain Again is the debut album from Slowcoaching, the moniker of Melbourne-based artist Dean Valentino. Almost a decade after the release of his EP All The Same, this album, which saw its beginnings during lockdowns, has been quite a journey.
Speaking on the album Valentino shares:
“I’ve always been a notoriously bad sleeper – whether overthinking mundane things, experiencing sleep paralysis or being glued to the TV at 2 o’clock in the morning. These songs were shaped in those moments of surreal loneliness and it was the first time I really felt a shift in the Slowcoaching project. It’s a big reason why I scrapped what I was working on at the time and tried a new direction – and even though it feels like it’s taken forever, it feels right”.
I’m in my Brain Again draws heavily on elements of softer shoe gaze and indie rock to realise a clear vision and distinctive sound. Valentino doesn’t shy away from adding heavy instruments to create a more dramatic texture – Toothache is a great example where big guitar sounds juxtapose against synth strings to create a sound that probably shouldn’t work together but somehow does. Yet he wisely stops short of creating these massive sound walls that I feel would have taken the album too far in another direction.
This forethought into the overall musicality of the album shines throughout, which is truly impressive for a project that has been developed over years, not months. Sonically, it’s so cohesive you find yourself listening over and over again as the songs just drift into each other beautifully. I love the way the lyrics are almost whispered at times, like the album is reluctantly sharing its secrets.
Dig deeper and the individual tracks do slowly reveal their unique story. I’m in my Brain Again is incredibly personal and raw at times and while the overall theme of sadness permeates throughout, there’s something more there – a contrasting feeling I can’t quite put my finger on.
As an example, I’ve listened to Freakout probably around 20 times at this point, and I hear something different each listen. Initially I thought it was a song about the loneliness of mental health issues, now I’m less sure. Theres notes of something like hope in there too. (ETA: Speaking with Dean about the album , he’s clarified that the feeling I was likely grasping for is “comfort”, and he’s right. The album is broody at times, it’s sad but it’s not despairing. It’s like there’s a beautiful inevitability in all of it).
I especially enjoyed the way It was Nice Meeting You centres its lyrical storytelling and again the album shows incredible restraint, pulling back almost all of the instrumental layers at times to let those vocals hold the space and tie the track together. It’s a sleepy track that manages to make itself linger in your consciousness and it’s perfectly positioned on the album after the more jangly yet ambiguous Toothache.
As you reach the end of the album, the releases final (and title) track, I’m in My Brain Again switches up the mood and finishes things on a lighter note. Valentino shares:
“The title-track is one of my favourite tracks off the album. It’s ridiculous, nonsensical fun that I think closes things on a hilarious note. Most of the record’s themes are really personal and at times, heavy, so taking a mushroom infused trip into the darkness felt like the most perfect way to end it.”
And I think that sums up this album beautifully. It’s heavy, but never so heavy that you stop seeing a lightness dancing around the edges. What’s for sure is this dreamy album of stories was definitely worth the wait!
Listen to I’m in My Brain Again Here.