The universe of Tex Patrello’s “Minotaur,” is that of the sublime and even supernatural.
Right out of the gate, “Ricky” is immediately immersive within a bizarre, morphing soundscape. “Eat it,” also provides a delightful juxtaposition. It is undulating, with vocals that sound like they were sung backwards then reversed. The sections switch effortlessly and honestly between modern pop indie melodies and experimental, brainy progressions like a beautiful creeping ivy slowly growing around the listener.
Despite evoking nature and the sublime, track names reference modernity – “Panda Express,” “Resident Evil,” “Long Lost Pimp,” – verbiage and nomenclature that puts a date stamp on the piece although the record feels like it was made by aliens in ancient times. The record itself evokes a similar feeling to MGMT’s self titled, as well as other indie artists from the 2010’s without directly sounding like them.
Textural and full of breath, the record juxtaposes lightness and whimsy with dark, brooding chord progressions. “Long Lost Pimp,” seems to contain a bagpipe, and is overrun by computerised fireflies, and the bendy synth leads of “Wichita Falls,” mixing folk and electronic elements effortlessly.
Woodwinds and album art imagery contribute to this rewritten folklore aesthetic. Bathed in the light emanating from a swan, Tex Patrello and the Minotaur smile creepily among the bunnies and flowers as they witness a plane crashing. Each song is a sprawling journey. “Slick-Dick’s Baby” features a lead piano riff worthy of a pop track, but the shrieking dissonant orchestra of synthesisers had other plans.
“Wichita Falls,” is definitely one of the sweetest, most tender songs on the album, recounting a safe space for a couple in Wichita (“you picked me a lily, the prettiest one // I did not ask for it, it’s all I could want”).
The songs overall use simple & modern language for the lyrics, but cover complex subject matter. In “Anything Goes,” there’s even a reference to “Jack Be Nimble,” the nursery rhyme. Sometimes they’ll even rhyme a word with itself, (“won’t you pick me up // I think I’m gonna throw up”) and sometimes they use cutesy colloquialisms, like the opening line, “Bad joke // you’re climbing up the oak // catch ‘em big buck feet // and eat it // your knee is icky split.”
“Resident Evil” paints a complex relationship dynamic between two people, as well as between a country and the way that it views violence, all funneled through the lens of video games and gamer culture (“we’re in America // and we like // we like it doggy // while watching t.v.”).
The album is successfully dense while having provocative content and lots of dynamics. The lyrics themselves could have an essay of their own teasing out meaning from all the imagery. Spiritual imagery of prayer, obsessive love, and nature mixed with voracious sexual imagery create a feral portrait of the minotaur.
Rating: 9.0/10
