Daily Iowan Review of ‘The Infinite Definitive’
CD Review – ‘The Infinite Definitive’
By Jason Larson
**** out of *****
The eighth release from local indie Unknown Component, The Infinite Definitive, shows the music industry a single mind can create a great album.
Keith Lynch is Unknown Component — no one else is in the band. This multitasking musical wizard seems to have more than an abundance of talent. His lyrics alone are testament to indie-rock surviving as a distinct genre.
His instrumental work is also top-notch. Lynch plays all the instruments and is self-taught.
He started in 2002 and has released seven albums prior to his latest.
Most one-man bands fall into the plague of lacking any sense of depth or sound.
Unknown Component doesn’t do this. Listeners can almost imagine seeing a full band on a big stage.
Each song on the album highlights one of the many instruments Lynch plays. The slower ballads have more piano and keyboards mixed in with his smooth voice.
The faster songs display more energy, as he rocks out with electric guitars and exciting beats. He lets loose with his singing sometimes, screaming directly from the pain in his heart.
The album’s opening track, “Moving out of Frame,” grabs the listener’s attention. The track is layered with heavy drum work, powerful guitar, and enigmatic lyrics.
“Moving out of Frame” has a real mysterious feel to the words, making the listener think you know what he’s talking about, but then it seems to get deeper.
The opening line — “In another form of cover, everyone survives” — shows the brilliance Lynch has in his writing. Listeners get perplexed immediately by deep suggestions of pain.
The Infinite Definitive features another great set of lyrics in the song “Collections of the State.” The reverb-guitar in the beginning is an epic scream into the depths of space, just before that classic melancholy indie-ness pushes you back into your seat. This is how Unknown Component has created his ever expanding cult following — by making sure people listen.
With the song “The Experience of Understanding,” Lynch brings indie songwriting up a notch by creating one of our generation’s great indie-ballads.
The Infinite Definitive ends with the piano-ballad “Electric Dissolution.” The track is filled to the brim with pain, sorrow, and melancholy.
The Infinite Definitive is nothing short of a distinctive album. Unknown Component is one of the hidden jewels in the Iowa City music scene. This new release will hopefully change that.