Canadian singer-songwriter Al Spx (who uses a stage name out of respect for her parents' disapproval of her career in music) found her band's name, Cold Specks, in a James Joyce quote. "Born all in the dark wormy earth, cold specks of fire, evil lights shining in the darkness," is the line from Ulysses that compelled Spx to keep making the dark, incendiary music she'd started writing at university.
Joyce's quote can also be applied to Spx's latest project, a short film featuring two songs from Cold Specks' 2014 album, Neuroplasticity. Fans of the television show Twin Peaks will find references in both story and image, as the video's young protagonist spins obsessively through his own anguish and obsession toward a violent and heartbreaking climax. Much like David Lynch's famously inscrutable series, "Neuroplasticity" creates as many questions as it answers. Spx's propulsive voice and seething music, paired with director Young Replicant's tense, choppy storytelling, will both reward and confound on multiple viewings.
Neuroplasticity is out now.
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