Review: Skyler Cocco's "Reverie" LP
Photo by: Joe Carrotta
Reverie embodies deep frustration and anger personified by intoxicatingly sweet vocals backed against a rugged foundation of rhythmic and bass guitars: a feeling that can be described as silk running over sandpaper. Cocco moves us past these tumultuous emotions to suspend us within the sublime ambiance of “Awake” and the namesake “Reverie”, only to ease us into refined themes of grungy reminiscent of the former half of the compilation.
When you’re traveling through this album, keep your ears open for:
“Pretty Thieves”: This song has an opening reminiscent of the post-punk/grunge themes of the 1990s, though it quickly dissolves into the dream-like grunge pop Skyler Cocco is known for.
“Awake”: Consider this track the palette cleanser of the album. Ethereal and almost spectral, this lyricless song suspends you in the wake of the frustration experienced in “Perfect Muse”
“Draining”: Here we have a refined complements of vocals, drums, and rhythmic & bass guitar melding together to give that unique feeling of “silk running over sandpaper”. Being the last song on the album, Cocco leaves us wanting more of this ethereal grunge vibe.
Skyler Cocco brings us this album as documentation of her experiences with the loss of her father, her struggles with depression and anxiety, and the presentation of her growth as she matured and developed the skills to cope with her past experiences.
Here is some insight into the album featuring Cocco’s own words:
Reverie is a trip inside my mind during the formative years of post high school through my first few months as a college graduate.
Personally, I was adjusting to life without my dad, struggling to separate my passion for music from his absence, coping with sleep paralysis and vivid nightmares brought on by depression and anxiety, and beginning my first romantic relationship in college.
But my story is one that I never allowed myself to tell before. Reverie gave me a chance to release the chains I put on my emotions.
It let me disclose how draining it is to pretend you are happy, how you can be your own worst enemy, how hiding your emotions can lead to reckless behavior and how frustrating it is to be dropped into an adult world after the bubble of college.
Although writing Reverie was not the easiest process, as I had to relive a lot of situations I’ve done my best to block out, I needed to make this record not only for myself but for those who have coped with loss, depression, and the fear of adulthood.
With this, she presents to us an uniquely energizing grunge-pop debut album and takes us through memories experienced in her youth.