Official artwork for Progress
Ah, Progress, the first 'canonical' High Five Spaceship release... and what a release it is! It's a little harder to come by nowadays, having been removed from Spotify (at least in the states) and really only streamable on Bandcamp. Luckily, I got my hands on a vinyl pressing around 2017 (being hand numbered, it's #146 of 300, if you're curious) as well as a digital download.
But where to start a review? I suppose from my memories of giving it a first listen. I was in high school, a bit of a recluse, and figuring out who the hell I was and what I liked... Like the best of us. 16 is a weird ass age to be, isn't it? Anyhow, It wasn't my first exposure to HFS; I'd known about it for a good two or three years by that point, knowing vaguely of it from Chris' other work on YouTube. I'd heard a few singles, but never an album start to finish. A friend of mine sought to rectify that, and pointed me in the direction of Progress, citing it as a good jumping off point.
Opening with All Roads, a distinctly atmospheric, instrumental track, I was blown away by what I'd heard. I wasn't quite into the experimental electronic scene yet, but I think this is what did me in. The album then dives headfirst into the semi-autobiographical Home that never fails to fuck me up a little bit. I think the overall context behind it all paints a stark picture. As a fan of both Chris and Tom since the late 2000s, it's hard to put into words what this track says to the uninitiated. If you know, you know. The blending of electronic and organic sounds here feels symbolic in a way I don't quite know how to articulate.
Regardless, the album then transitions to another instrumental track, Lead To (all roads lead to home, get it?) which served as one of my favorite "listen to on the busride home" tracks. The blend of drums and arpeggiating synths and screaming guitars always gets me. It's heavy, maybe even a little bit sexy. It fucks severely. Enough said.
Then, the tone IMMEDIATELY shifts with Cheap Divorce pt. 1. The heaviness lifts. Still a blend of synthetic and natural, it serves as a breather from the previous three hard-hitting tracks and feels refreshing. Like switching from red wine to white or some other cool metaphor. The coolness continues with Eighty Two, another favorite of mine. It's slow, chill, and full of nice vibes. It's earned a spot on my study playlists; familiar and low-key enough to not distract me too much, but complex enough to not fade into the background.
Decay. Oh, Decay. Back to the slow, dark, instrumental. It's a very autumnal track, simple and mournful, like falling leaves and the smell of, well, decay. It's one of the shortest tracks on the album, rounding the halfway point, but is no less impactful than the others. If I ever learn how to play anything beyond Row, Row, Row Your Boat on the piano, this is a track I'd love to get down.
Continuing the descent of Decay, Stick Cuts Upon builds an eerie, heavy atmosphere that's bordering on metal. It's a rich, intense track that you can feel in your chest. Villain arc music, anyone?
Back to lyrical tracks, Disrepair did SOMETHING to my psyche back in 2017. I was OBSESSED with this track. Maybe because I was a teenager and obsessed with something close to love; despite the subject matter being closer to a breakup song, I listened to this one a LOT. Over and over. I think I cited it in a creative writing assignment at one point. It's the closest to a pop song the album has, but that's not to it's detriment. I think - much like Cheap Divorce pt. 1 - it's a nice breather from the dives the album takes into heaviness. There's nothing wrong with a little balance. It's followed by the sub-minute F E D Something, the simple instrumental ditty backed by the sound of distant birdsong. It's pleasant, soft. Like noodling around with a piano with the window open, drinking a cup of coffee and letting some light in before the coming storm.
And the storm arrives with Trust No One, arguably the most dramatic track on the album - but that's not a bad thing. In fact, it may as well be the crown jewel of Progress, pulling out every stop in a nearly six-minute climax to the album. It's got layers, complexity, a message. The ending monologue (?) is intoxicatingly poetic. I would kill to see this one performed live (even though it's likely to never happen). If I could pick a HFS track to get lyrics tattooed on my body from, it's this track. Not sure what, but damn, the lyricism here fucks.
The tone softens a final time with Cheap Divorce pt. 2, acoustic and poetic, with the echos of the recording booth creating a live performance vibe that's something unique. You're put there in the studio, back in mid-2014, listening to take-who-knows-what-number, with the distortion and imperfections of epheremeral art, never to be recreated in the exact same way. It's a nice little glimpse into the progress of Progress.
Finally, the album closes with one last instrumental track, Nomad, another study playlist regular. Is it cliche to call it ending credits music? It certainly rounded off my sophomore year of high school, and it feels poetic in a way; the sampled audio about sharpening and breaking pencils and the implications that metaphor has really reflected the direction my life was about to take in the following years. Imperfections can be something beautiful and lead to further creation, if you use them right. Don't worry so much on the technicalities of what you end up doing, just create, y'know? Whether it be an album, a piece of artwork, a quiet little blog about something you like.
Progress is going on nine years old, but hasn't yet exhausted itself. If you were to give me fresh ears and tell me it was released yesterday, I'd believe you. It's unique in comparison to so much that's come out in the last decade of experimental indietronica weirdness, and I wish we had a little bit more of this collaborative, genre-mixing, personal, atmospheric type of album.
I dunno, maybe my tastes are intrinsically linked with my nostalgia for the time I first listened to this album. It's hard to divorce that feeling, though, and I'll have to accept it as it is (I could make a Cheap Divorce joke if I were a little bit wittier).
Anywho, Progress serves as an excellent foray into High Five Spaceship, bridging the gap between earlier releases and more recent ones. I always recommend a listen for new fans, just to get a taste.
Thanks, cosmonauts!
x Andru