Review Monday: Baths – “Yeoman”

Baths
“Yeoman”
Romaplasm
Anticon.

When Wiesenfeld recorded his 2013’s outstanding sophomore album, Obsidian, he just recovered from his illness. The record is darker, more sepulchral than his playful and whimsical debut. On Obsidian, Wiesenfeld sounds hopeless and pessimistic, reflected by his “Worsening” or “Miasma Sky”. His “Incompatible” is disgustingly honest and heartbreaking.  As he recovered from his illness, he buried himself inside anime, video games, books, and comics. He released the ridiculously catchy “Dream Daddy”, a theme to a dad-dating simulator game. The track is complete departure from his Obsidian songs. Not only because it’s mainly driven by acoustic guitar, but also on “Dream Daddy” he sounds joyful and exuberant. He sounds earnest as he asks, “Who’s gonna be your dream daddy? Who’s it gonna be? Who’s it gonna be?” He may answer his question himself on “Yeoman”, the lead track of his third upcoming album, Romaplasm.

“Yeoman” is clearly influenced by his immersing in video games as you can hear from his  arpeggiated synth. “Man, it’s good to see you,” he begins the song. “This must be the airship/ And are these your fellow crew?” Airship is the most important item from video games, whether they’re adventure or RPG games. Airship marks a journey, a voyage in which Wiesenfeld can’t wait to take part. “Would you show me green/ and would you show me blue?” he eagerly asks. His voice is layered as if he tried to contain his enthusiasm, but his “buoyant waltz” and drum-beat can’t hide it. “Your kiss is a swell,” he admits, even if he’s just a modest “yeoman”. But, Wiesenfeld doesn’t seem to care as they both explore the boundless world of the video games where they place “pushpins on the starchart” and fool around “in the armillary room”. It completely makes sense that after he released “Dream Daddy”, he sounds giddy on “Yeoman”. “Dream Daddy” and “Yeoman” seem like one continuous story where Wiesenfeld finally finds his dream daddy.