The Melancholiac II, JSDavani’s latest album, is an extraordinary twisted tale in twenty tracks, disclosing the darkness of a depressed mind, addiction, and struggling for a healthy spirit. It is an album of experimental rhythms, dissonant structures, and various moods with each song portraying the different facets of melancholy.
There are two main partitions, or themes, in The Melancholiac II. The songs 1-7 bring the listener to the stages of depression described by the atmospheric music and expressive lyrics. The record begins with the track titled “Heartdrops”, which is an ambient, glitchy vocal track with spooky melody; it is as if JSDavani conveys the idea of loneliness at the edge of insanity. By the sixth track, “Wants/Needs: A War Between” the calm quality accompanied with triggering sounds and slow bass again translates to the desperate wants and needs during major depressive episodes.
Tracks 8 through 10 change the direction from withdrawal symptoms to the first thrill and the opportunity for an escape that substances give. The ninth track, “JUST A Pinch: Over the Dose” conveys the atmosphere of a substance abuse case by delivering wide, robotic arrangements. Track 11, “This Isn’t Gonna End:… Well”, also has a cautionary theme with lines which carry a clear message of the potentially fatal consequences of substance abuse. The subsequent guilt and the fall of the protagonist down till the catabasis is represented in the title track ‘The Melancholiac’ which has jingling percussives that signal arousal from biological alarm clock to a sad, cinematic rise.
Starting from track 12 the album’s track can be understood as moving into the realms of recovery and the struggle that it entails. Track 16, “WAKING UP: The Sky with Laughter” means a revelation and the desire to become better. The final tracks, including “The Calm Before: The End of It All” and “A Beginning/Ending: Rinse/Repeat” reflect the relapse theme, that for an addict, sobriety is a daily accomplishment which contains moments of relapse, of decision-making in the grips of addiction.
JSDavani proves that rhythmic patterns play a big role in the albums’ sound; he utilizes echoes, shocking patterns of sound, varying rhythms, and multiple voices. Every track is grandiose and possesses unalike characteristics and prearranged atmospheric times that affect the ears of the audience in specific ways. Even the measures and harmonies of this album are perfect examples of the growing aspect and creativity of JSDavani.
Adaptively, the themes of the Melancholiac II and major aspects of its concept are still as intimate and questionable as the main topics being touched upon and seemingly discussed in The Melancholiac II, namely, mental illness and substance abuse, are still as private and untouched as it gets.
In summation, The Melancholiac II is a deep and original attempt to understand the processes of a melancholic individual. One of the primary aspects of the JSDavani’s music making is his ability to weave the experimental motifs into deeply personal story which engulfs the listener and leaves a mark. This ultimate masterpiece is not merely an album of songs but an exploration of the human heart and mind that is complicated.
