The past year has provided us with an extended moment of collective pause. The time spent in solitude has offered an opportunity to collect and organize thoughts in laissez-faire efforts to wrangle anxious energies and endless binge-watched Mobius strip zoetropes of streaming consciousness. Just like our humble dwellings of abode, the comforts of our mental spaces have become an increased focus in our lives at a time when we spend more time there than anywhere else. We continue to work on the self care of our own mental health, engage in dialogues (and monologues) on and about our states of mind, concern for the state of our world, our communities, families, loved ones and so on. Much of our conversation, both with ourselves and others have been centered around the states of things, expressing the nearly universally agreed motion and desire to move on up to a better state of being, a better state of life, a better state of consciousness, a better state of mindfulness and more.

Expounding upon theses ideas is Max Foreman (of Bouquet, Tenebre) presenting the debut for the pensive understated electro pop, “State of Decay”. Featured off the Los Angeles artist’s upcoming solo EP Underground, Foreman focuses on the micro and macroscopic perspectives that observe change, alterations and the various shifts that occur in the material realm during the narratives of existence. The natural cycles of erosion in connection to the human made world of concrete asphalt are observed in a resigned electro-lounge delivery that tenderly embraces the arms of entropy. The sincere and maudlin keys, smoky synths and Max’s balladeering presence make for a distant event that floats through the air and sees the world from an organic earth science approach lit aglow by electric utility lamps. Max paints portraits of nature running its course with a progression the coasts ahead like a plane gliding gracefully above an LED twinkling sea of city lights.

Max provided us with some notes on the processes of creating Underground and “State of Drcay”:

Each song in Underground is a snapshot beginning as the world started to collectively shelter in place, culminating with an earthquake shaking Southern California in the title track. The project was my method of processing the metamorphosis that we've collectively experienced in this unforeseen era. "State of Decay" is about that feeling of metamorphosis—part fatigue, part reawakening to the world around us. The lyrics depict nature gently reclaiming its territory, clawing away at the edifices of city life. The song observes a sense of beauty in experiencing nature and reaching for love amidst a time of unprecedented wreckage and upheaval. Curious non-sequiturs about silent street parades and doorstep dogs bring a feeling of light surrealism to the song, mirrored by the subtly warped instrumentation.

Max Foreman’s Underground will be available March 5.