Birth Of Omni
Birthmark / Birth Of Omni / 2024 / PRC-489
I don’t typically like to review something that is a new release right away because it takes me some time to let it sink into my ears and gather my final thoughts. With Birth Of Omni, I need to talk about this one as soon as possible - it’s too interesting, complex, and multidimensional that I haven’t stopped listening to it since it released last Friday, January 19th. Birth Of Omni is Birthmark’s (Nate Kinsella’s solo endeavor) fifth studio release after a nine year gap from the last, How You Look When You’re Falling Down. With the writing process beginning in 2018, Birth Of Omni encapsulates a multitude of feelings around Kinsella’s “coming of middle age” and perception of the world around us through these last five years. It serves as an album of hope with the prospect of happiness and light at the end of this dark tunnel - an overall arc of being honest and open with yourself which may ultimately lead to a better world if we all do the same.
Birth Of Omni flows through it’s ten tracks seamlessly as it takes you on a sonic journey of diverse instrumentation that certainly influenced the tones used on the LIES debut last year. With Nate located in New York, he has a large social connection of talent at his fingertips that he loves to have collaborate on his work. Just looking at the extensive credits on the gorgeously designed inner lyric sheet showcases the amount of strings, woodwinds, horns, harp, and voices that helped make Birth Of Omni come to fruition. It’s almost like a pit band for Birth Of Omni - The Musical. Standout songs on the album include Birthday (Product of Our Lust), Rodney, Boyfriend, Red Meadow, and I’m Awake. A little past the three minute mark on Birthday (Product of Our Lust) the strings lift away as a disco scene unfolds full of thick bass guitar, drumkit, flanged electric guitar, and even harp. It’s unexpected stuff like this throughout the record that truly make it Birth Of Omni. Shortly after, Rodney follows up and comes as a familiar “Kinsella what if?”. As Nate states in an interview with Stereogum after the release of the single “I developed a pretty-deep crush on a male co-worker, which was a new thing for me. And this fun little song popped into my head. I’ve always felt straight-leaning but I’ve also noticed that the context and people matter a lot in how I feel, so I’ve come to accept my sexuality as dynamic in nature”. It’s a catchy track that features some amazing string work and a guitar solo that is doubled with some scat singing. Boyfriend is a pop track that has Kinsella altering his voice down a few semitones to give it a totally different feel. It’s full of trap drum beats and a synthesizer arpeggio very reminiscent of Steven Wilson’s Staircase. After a funky guitar solo and bridge build up, it sounds like the track is evolving into a 1980’s workout track as it transforms through a key change before being let back down again to the chorus - the second time on the album I was really thrown for a surprise. Red Meadow really resonates and I think is my favorite on the record. The simplicity of the drum machine, keyboards, and auto-tuned vocals is so refined that it’s almost mesmerizing. Big cello, viola, and violin enter in the outro and sound amazing alongside Arone Dyer’s vocal additions on the chorus - “I belong to you and you belong above me. We need a meadow to roll in. We need a fire to start spreading. It catches on, catches on. I belong to you, I hold you up above me. I don’t know what I’m standing on, what I’m standing on. But I know to keep hanging on, hanging on, hanging on”. I’m Awake serves as a great pre-closure to the record that reminds me a lot of Adjy’s Grammatology outro. As the track progresses, the additions of the flute runs and then marching snare drum are just truly brilliant and made me smile as they caught me off guard on first listen.
Birth Of Omni was written, performed, and produced by Nate Kinsella. The album design and layout were created by John Samels. This pressing is 1/250 on mahogany in cloudy clear direct from Polyvinyl. Music videos for Rodney, Red Meadow, and Boyfriend can be watched at the links below.
Birthmark - Rodney [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]
