as someone who recently is in the process of coming out as trans i couldn’t help but put that meaning into this album. especially with the first track i see it as like seeing your idealized (female) version of yourself. and the last track being the acceptance of that. i appreciate when an artist had a desired message but i also appreciate the way we all see art through our own experiences.
Sending so much love and courage to you on your journey as you embody your true self - and I also relate as someone who realised they were agender and will be changing my name officially soon to something that feels more me
I would also say there's a cautionary tale in the album about the sinister reality of the idealized self, and how purity is a futile endeavor. I think that's my take away from the album; towing that line between self discovery and idealization, and ultimately finding your true identity. Congratulations on finding yourself! I wish you the very best on your journey.
angel on a satellite is my favorite track rn. at first i didn’t really vibe with it but the other day i listened to it on repeat for hours and got lost in it.
Stunning makeup as always Fern 💛 so excited for your reaction & sending love to you with all your illnesses bogging you down 🙏 be extra kind to yourself always
haven't finished the video yet so sorry if you noticed this later on!! i found out soon after the album came out that The Beginning actually transitions into She Looked Like Me perfectly!!!! it's so cool to me since i've never seen an artist connect two albums together like that, especially since The Beginning already loops into The End :)
Yesss I was just about to mention that too! It's so cool how they flow together. And the sound effects kind of sound like a disc or something similar loading into a player, like they stopped listening to Mercurial World repeating and put in this new disc. Could be a metaphor for breaking some sort of cycle for sure
Only other artist to do this kind of stuff I can think of is King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, and they're practically infamous for their gimmickry with their album sequencing, transitions and concepts
I love how you decided to not look at the lyrics until after you've heard the song for this album because it's such a great album to do just that as the musical element to it is so dense and incredible.
Definitely watch the music videos!! They always release a full video for the entirety of their mini mixes so I'm hoping they do that for this album at some point. There are only 4 vids so far so you have to piece stuff together, but they supplement the story really well.
I think it's really cool that The Beginning transitions into She Looked Like Me so smoothly. You can hear it at the start of the song. It's like Imaginal Disk branches out of an eternal cycle that is Mercurial World. It's as if the album breaks the cycle. That's why The Ballad of Matt & Mica does not loop back into She Looked Like Me.
I'm only 21 minutes in your reaction and I already see that you and genius have different interpretations. And I think that it is totally normal and that Imaginal Disk can have a lot of different interpretations possible. So neither your interpretation or genius' interpretation is wrong I would say. So far the video is great!!
The end of the album doesn't quite loop back to the start, BUT the end of mercural world transitions into the start of ID (if I can remember right.. try it)! How amazing is that
i think the second verse is getting at the idea that the process of changing or bettering yourself is painful. like, if it doesn't hurt, you're not growing. also the whole romance storyline in the middle, i think, is sort of describing the stuff that she needs to let go of in order to become her best self. fear, sex, romance... even simple stuff like watching TV...
After listening to this I really don't believe that there is any music that sounds as good as this album. It's earcandy. Depeche Mode, Tears for Fears and Simple Minds come to mind, but those artists sound so rudimentary compared to this.
if you're looking for music artists like this, maybe you'll like the Cocteau Twins? It's more like chamber pop with the same flare, with a bit of Ambience. Just the first thing I can think of.
FERN!!! I love your reactions, been watching for a year maybe? your energy is so good, and fun, and you have good takes about the album, wow, i just love them since Mercurial World, but this one feels so much more alien, and weird, but in a good way! for me, the album have two different ways of how you can see it it have the history, the True Blue, the Doctor, the brainwashing, the mirror, this part is so fun to piece together, you can watch the music videos, they show this world in a super interesting way but, since the release, I feel that this album have another way that you can see, that is, the *internal you*, the process of change, and evolving, growing up, and learning more about yourself, and It have a LOT of metafors, for example, i've thinking about Vampire in the Corner, this title never made sense to me, until I see another perspective on it the "Vampire" being someone fascinating, but at the same time scary that feels love in such a intense way, that it can scare you off or Angel on a Satellite, being this "creature", or myth, God, something to hold on that unites the celestial, higher being of the Angel, with the tecnological and modern nature of a Satellite and I love that the both worlds, the fantasy of the disk and the doctor, and the internal you many times connect inside the album, you can see the way you prefer, the way It makes sense to you
but yeah, is one of my favorites of this year absolutelly I loved your video 🐸❤️ (I would love to see a reaction to the videos, but I don't have a patreon subscription sadly lol) I made a tattoo of the album cover on my leg it hurt like hell, but It was worth it!!!!
I LOVE YOU SO MUCH FERN AND I LOVE UR VIDS!!! can you pretty pretty please react to sarah kinsleys new album escaper it is sooooo good!!!! its a upbeat indie album w a folksy kind of voice
