Short-Sighted Security

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Stuck in the house unable to tour, some musicians used the pandemic's forced idle time in wiser ways than others. Shaylee (the nom de rock of Elle Archer, a self-described "queer trans woman"), made a record that she calls "an enormous reaction to traumatic events happening to me in real-time," and "a way to stave off isolation and partially as a way to drown out the sound of two former girlfriends hooking up upstairs." Ouch! That description sounds like grist for an angry, accusatory record and yet on her debut album, Shaylee decided to go lush, making a big, melodic, decidedly glam rock record that has echoes of cited personal touchstones like Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and Radiohead's OK Computer. Even a tune like the off kilter "Turned Inside" where the pitch wanders and the lyrics sound anguished—"It's all too much to bear/ The paranoid exorcisms inside my mind/ I will die a thousand times to find the littlest crime /And burn you for it"—is set to melodic, almost pleading melodies which in this case end with "What's wrong with me?" What makes it all work is that like many solo DIY artists, Shaylee is a perfectionist. A charging pop tune like "Health" bristles with hooks, expert layering and a surging arrangement. "#1 Destroyer Fan" has the eventual fruition of a classic chamber pop number. The same holds true for "Audrey" whose sad lyrics have a loud-soft dynamic that blooms into soaring, Brian Wilson-esque pop. Although it has the feel of a tough rocker in its opening, "Danger Decides" has a descending chorus hook, complete with a background glockenspiel effect, that is irresistible. 

Recorded in her Portland, Oregon, living room, she built these tracks assisted by two friends credited only as Matt (organ, violin and cello) and Travis (bongos and "crucially—whispers"). Fortunately, Shaylee knows how to record on a home computer which gives Short-Sighted Security a sonic gleam that while compressed for volume has enough substance and textures to make it very listenable. Like most solo, made-in-a-vacuum pandemic records, there are touches of excess here. "Please Talk to Me" goes on too long. And "Stranded Living Room," clearly shows the effect of having too much time and no other ears to judge.  Beginning with a very likable guitar line with just a touch of Farfisa-sounding keyboards, it builds slowly, verse-by-verse.  Repeated lines like "down a path of pain" and "you can run in peace" eventually become a massive wave of crashing cymbals, strident lead guitar, layered voices and finally, a tinkling acoustic piano. Over-the-top for sure, but Short-Sighted Security is still impressive for a single musician, and may mark Shaylee more as a studio musician than a touring presence. Though Shaylee has said of the record that it's, "simmering in your feelings, detailing the rumination stage that comes before actively trying to change the ways in which you move through the world," this is surprisingly upbeat guitar pop music, more sweeping than jangle. In her loneliness and doubts, she is powerful.  © Robert Baird/Qobuz