New York-based Canadian artist Melissa Geurts creates what she calls “nervous system anthems,” set within a consuming dark synth-pop aesthetic. Her sophomore album Maintenance Mode explores a concept rarely spoken about: that hollow, directionless stretch after the crisis has passed and the healing work is done, where you’re left waiting for your body to finally believe it’s safe. “Everyone talks about the breakdown. Everyone talks about the healing,” Geurts says. “Nobody talks about the weird boring middle where you did all the work and now you’re just… here.”
Compelling in its swell of dreamy intrigue to passionate electronic art-pop allure, “Not Because It’s Romantic” begins with a woozy assortment of escalating synths — paired with a lush vocal yearning to acquire “a house in the hills” where they can’t be found. “I’m just so sick and tired of the grind,” Geurts’ vocals continue into a pulsing expanse, reminding fondly of Röyksopp and Robyn collaborations in its glistening sense of momentum. Perspectives of day-by-day repetition and yearning for isolation — “not because it’s romantic” — delight amidst a catchy electro-pop appeal. It also makes for a resonating depiction of the “maintenance mode” concept, a process made more difficult by daily mundanity and the lack of personal solace.
The ensuing “Temper Temper (Lumière Menteuse)” stirs within a nocturnal atmospheric realm, its head-nodding bass and sporadic blares of synth synergy combine with a debonair vocal coolness, for a sound lovably reminiscent of Chromatics. “Televised Advertised” channels a ghostly, suave chilliness as well. “Scrolling, comparing, repeating,” the vocals move into an array of glitzy and distorted synths, thematically capturing the disorienting blur between personal freedom and algorithmic manipulation. The inclusion of Dutch repetitions like herhaal and keuze mirrors this loss of identity. “I couldn’t tell which dreams were mine anymore,” Geurts says of the track. “The Dutch felt right — like dissociating in my second language.”
The album’s title track is a stunner both in its stylishly melodic flow and thematic lyrical enthrallment. Embracing a more spacious soundscape across its first half, “Maintenance Mode” focuses on a stirring vocal introspection, buzzy synth touches, and an orchestral-like lush undercurrent — then developing into a punchier, infectious conclusion. The track’s lyricism conveys the conflict between a hectic modern world and a need for slowing down. “My therapist keeps calling it ‘spaciousness’ and I keep calling it ‘suspicious,'” Geurts says of the “maintenance mode concept.” She continues: “Like why is nothing on fire. What am I supposed to do with my hands.”
The production’s range of dreamily inviting atmospherics and second-half rhythmic bolstering pairs with an absorbing lyrical emphasis with lines like I thought I’d feel lighter, but mostly I feel unassigned embodying the album’s thematic exploration, artfully depicting the suspicious stillness of a nervous system that hasn’t yet caught up to the safety of the mind. It serves as a poignant representation of the “maintenance” phase, where the absence of crisis feels like a hollow, boring wait for one’s own body to finally believe the work is done.
Another standout track, “I Think I Deleted It” is exemplary of Geurts’ dynamic vocal range and knack for emotive sincerity. “I think I deleted it, I don’t have it,” she lets out in the chorus, seamlessly alternating between a hushed spoken-word and commanding singing presence, its crunching synth tones and escalating vocal vibrancy moving especially as the two-minute turn approaches. “If you need closure, you can go to IKEA and build it yourself,” the track bitingly concludes, capturing the refusal to manage another’s discomfort as a necessary act of emotional preservation. Album finale “Still Here Though” is a final cathartic dose of self-confidence, exploring the repetitive nature of existing without an audience, delivering the strange disorientation of finally acting without being watched. Stylish, melodic, and full of gripping introspection, Maintenance Mode is a thorough achievement from Melissa Geurts.
The post Melissa Geurts – ‘Maintenance Mode’ appeared first on Obscure Sound: Indie Music Blog.
