UnknownComponent

       Everything At Once Is Nothing All The Time, the most recent release from prolific singer/songwriter Keith Lynch, is not the cheeriest record in the world. It is, however delicate and meticulously arranged, with the rare ablility to treat atmosphere with the same respect as the tune or the lyric. Recording as Unknown Component, Lynch uses classic elements such as a strummed acoustic or electric guitar and bass to propel the songs, but synth loops and unsettling beats transform them into something else entirely.

       The album is fairly unapologetic in it’s depression, but everyone loves a sad song when it carries real weight, and Lynch has it down pat. In fact, it seems to be at it’s best when it emotionally hits rock bottom. Growling like Kurt Cobain–not the screaming Cobain, the church mouse Cobain singing about how it’s OK to eat fish–Lynch repeats lines like “please stop this suffering” or “why do you challenge me when you know I can’t compete” like they are mantras. The insistent repetition is hypnotic to the point where the lyric melds with the instruments, a device that could be seen as grating in less experienced hands.

       Although Unknown Component wears it’s Radiohead influences smartly on it’s sleeve in the form of it’s slow angst and lush alienation, it’s surprising how desperate and narrative-driven theses songs can be. Most notable is “If This Then That” (available to sample at unknowncomponent.com), a jaw-dropping tune written from the perspective of a briefcase carrying white collar worker. “Your presentation didn’t go as planned, and in the office the fire was fanned”, sings Lynch, and a portrait of a life is slowly fleshed out in the most unusual of rock settings.

       Older fans may find the melancholy getting a little deep in places, and Lynch’s vocals seem to purposefully bend out of pitch during drawn out phrasing, but a younger audience will find synth-driven tracks like “Deliberation” spreak directly to them. It’s his recognition of this fragility that makes this record unusual in an already full field of mopey rock.

        It’s a shame that the opening track, “In Descending Circles”, is the weakest on the record. Lynch’s vocals seem out of place without the electronic manipulation to match the dreamlike setting in which they’re placed. In fact, the album gains momentum as it progresses, picking up more character(and despair) along the way. It’s certainly not the feel-good hit of the summer, but it’s obvious that it’s only a matter of time before Unknown Component finds an audience well beyond it’s Midwestern home.   

                                          Written by William Fare