Boston-born synth craftsman Andre Obin kicked off a night of moody psychedelia at Rough Trade this past Saturday. The hour-long set introduced new songs from Endorphin, which Obin released this month, as well as a good mix from The Arsonist (2013) and Ways of Escape (2014).
The slow pulse of the lights and Obin’s otherworldly sonic flow created a surreal backdrop and clashed with his breathy vulnerability and monochrome stage presence. This inherent tension jarred the atmosphere and instilled a tangible discord between sight and sound. Obin played up that duality in his song arrangement as well, traveling from spacey and eloquent to highly textured tracks with little lyrical emphasis.
The show, the sound, and the artist all portray the same elements: disorientation, disintegration, and dissonance. “You take every chance to erase me when you speak,” Obin relates in “The Arsonist” and fights the urge to fade away. In “Approaching Zero,” he sings – “All my other dreams have slipped away, and I can’t seem to get out of my way.” The overall effect is equal parts reverie and nightmare.
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Article: Alex Feigin
