‘Gist of the Dusk’ by Lancelot Chen is a pop concept album that tells a story of acceptance using atmosphere, rhythm and emotion. These elements ramp up the album’s themes, telling a full story that feels visceral and tonal. This allowing the listener to fully enter this world through abstract themes before allowing its thematic emotion to land.
Its soundscape is heavy with synth-led melodies that seem to obscure the vocal, especially in the first third of the album. This allows the listener to find their way through the album’s story through mood and tone before the story is rounded by the album’s end.
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‘Gist of the Dusk’: Track-by-Track
‘Gist of the Dusk’ is a layered concept album that allows its concepts to build onto themselves, from setting & atmosphere up to overt themes & emotion. This mood builds over itself in three stages: using atmosphere, building rhythm and resolving with the full weight of the concept’s emotion.
‘Gist’ of Atmosphere
The album begins at the end with ‘Ovation in Our Minds’, a dark and atmospheric track that highlights a high point in our protagonist’s life. The song holds within it pieces of imagery, a sense of potential that teases the journey ahead.
This track is followed by ‘Scary Hour’, a song characterised by synths that feel almost uneasy. The soundscape on this track seems to sound like flowing time, populated by moments of deep frustration and chaotic isolation. There’s a darkness to these lines that highlights the protagonist’s lonely and unhinged state of mind.
“…Scary hours, that’s what we live for,…
…The sheer pain isn’t half the toll.
I just want to let you know…”.
‘The Other Side’ takes that unease from the last track and leans into its deep darkness. The use of darker synths and the introduction of a subtle but quick-paced synth highlights a sense of pessimism and distance. This distance muffles the song’s lyrics, almost as though they’re being heard from a train as it passes by.
‘Million Lightyears’ feels light with realisation, with its piano-led melodies and tinkling rhythm. It finally addresses a sense of distance. This with the protagonist realising that they’re the reason for that distance and their own isolation.
“…(A) million lightyears between you and me,…
…I know that I’m the reason why you’re lonely…
…But I leave you behind and keep running free…”.
‘Gist’ of Rhythm
‘Back in Time’ introduces a more pronounced, building percussion with a more broken down world-view. The song’s soundscape is a whirlwind of staccato that wants to rewind, while our protagonist sings about wanting to go back in time and make things right in the wake of their realisation. Here, the percussion keeps the time, like a ticking clock.
‘Left Shoulder’ picks up where the last song left off, with elements of rock highlighting the song’s sense of loneliness and isolation. The track is divided into two, beginning with a descending sense of hopelessness, before slowing down in an attempt to soothe.
‘Walk Like You’ is a song about emulating someone the protagonist admires, with a stomping rhythm reminiscent of stomping shoes. The song wants to change a situation where they feel envious of something.
“…Lacking you is something I could never afford…”.
‘Keeping My Heart Away (Interlude)’ consolidates the mood of the album so far, using whirling synths and rhythm to act as a cool down almost. The vocals on the track feel displaced and garbled, allowing emotion to subtly seep its way through the narrative.
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‘Gist’ of Emotion
The next four tracks form the emotional core of the album’s concept, with these feelings and heavy vibrations seeming to slot into place. Each song from this point highlights visceral emotions that allow the first track to feel full formed and complete.
‘Starlight,’ is a synth-pop track that uses its keyboard and synths to highlight the sense of envy from ‘Walk Like You’. The protagonist seems to be addressing their ex-lover in both songs, a person who has moved on and moved up in life. The song highlights that the distance addressed before seems to be because of this person’s celebrity status, making the feeling more pronounced.
The cascading synths from this track lead to the next, ‘Raid Out’. This song shows that a connection has been made between the protagonist and their ex, which feels heavy with the protagonist’s conflicting emotions. The lines highlight that they don’t allow themselves to love again, keeping their distance deliberately this time.
Something they come to regret.
“Heaven’s Fall’, the penultimate track on the album, is a sombre tune. Its descending trickling melody highlights a sense of grief, like a dark lullaby that heavy with words unsaid. The song feels sad and detached,while the lyrics reflect on the regret the protagonist feels for not saying anything sooner.
“…Who can tell me where we are,
In this world of found and lost?
And lost.”
The titular song on the album ‘Gist of the Dusk’ highlights the lessons learnt on this journey. Its lines highlight its mood of acceptance, and the journey that the protagonist is about to embark on.
“…I know I’m different from what I used to be.
So I will let it go,…
…the past that’s so cold…”.
‘Gist of the Dusk’ by Lancelot Chen is an odyssey through to acceptance. This with a mood that is as powerful as its lyrics. Its story is filled with a sense of reflection, that also highlights the regret and grief certain choices produce. This while also highlighting the power one has to change their circumstances or atleast change their mindset.
The Artist
Lancelot Chen began composing, producing and singing at the age of 16. He specialises in making music with addictive melodies and an immersive ambience.
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Listen to ‘Gist of the Dusk’ here:
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