"Frailty" Album Review
by Taylor Ptack
Jane Remover, formerly known as “dltzk,” is an artist name you may have heard of if you spend lots of your free time online. Initially being grouped into the “hyperpop” scene around 2020 and 2021, they have since broken out of their shell as a producer and become a highly respected solo artist as of late. And no project of theirs reaffirms this respect like their latest album, a 13-song-long journey entitled Frailty.
Frailty is by no means an extremely new album. In fact, it’s coming up on a year old this November, but it is Jane’s latest large-scale project. Additionally, it has been a big shift in their sound as an artist, as well as their attitude as a person. Their album before Frailty, entitled Teen Week, was a much more bitter and angry collection of music. The tone and themes of Teen Week are almost incomparable to Frailty. And although I highly recommend both, the ladder is definitely more accurate to the person Jane is today, as well as being a lot more subtle and interesting to talk about.
Cover art for Frailty
I won’t be reviewing every song. Admittedly, not every song really needs to be reviewed. And that’s not because some are boring, it’s just there isn’t much to comment on. For example, the introduction song, “goldfish,” really doesn’t have much going on besides being a pretty, acoustic piece. However, this album is definitely capable of being complex, which is why I’ll be reviewing my top 3 songs off it.
#3: “search party”
This is the 5th song of the album and is easily a borderline masterpiece. The composition and progression of this song are extremely emotional. It clocks in at almost 5 minutes long, and not a second of it is boring. “Search party” opens with a mellow guitar strum and crunchy vocal melody, immediately switching into an even crunchier electronic beat. And as the song steadily goes on to the chorus, the energy just keeps getting more intense until the bridge. The lyrics of the song are crafted into a little journey. It’s a story of someone walking away from home. As the song breaks down into ambiance, there are very fitting sounds of dogs barking and other outside aesthetics over the melodic elements. This song is nothing short of impressive, and Jane captures the feeling of someone lost in their thoughts during a walk perfectly.
8/10
#2: “kodak moment”
Number 8 on the album is “kodak moment.” This song is beautifully confusing. It starts with a welcoming piano melody, synths, and drums, followed shortly by Jane’s vocals. As expected by the tone of the intro, it’s very pretty and full of swing. Everything is coherent until the 2-minute mark. The swing suddenly disappears and an indistinguishable vocal melody fades in. The transition over the next 32 seconds doesn’t come close to preparing you for what happens next. It’s a total mental breakdown conveyed through sounds. It fits perfectly with the tone of the lyrics beforehand, too. Jane talks about lying, hating people seeing them in a poor state, and watching the world burn. And after this sudden shift in sound, Jane doesn’t sing another word of the song. The rest of the emotion is conveyed entirely through the sound design. It’s harsh but beautiful. After this angry wall of noise ends, there’s an extremely nostalgic composition using instruments from the 4th generation of Pokemon games. And without any words being sung for 3 whole minutes, you get an amazing feeling of closure.
10/10
#1: “let’s go home”
Fitting to the name, this is the last song on the album. It wraps up everything perfectly. It’s poppy, full of energy, and the perfect end to Frailty. It almost sounds like the ending credits to a movie, and considering the journey this album takes you on just in individual songs, it might as well be. “Let’s go home” changes time signatures a few times to emphasize certain emotions. It starts in 4/4 as an electronic dance tune, and then slowly transitions into a pop-rock anthem in 3/4. It’s honestly perfect. As the rock section ends, you get a brief repeat of a melody introduced at the beginning of the track. It’s like a beautiful little bow on top to end the song and album.
10/10
I’ve only given a glimpse of Frailty here. I’d highly recommend listening to the entire album. It’s already an impressive story being told, and that’s only magnified when you realize Jane is just an 18-year-old in their bedroom making music for fun.