In a Different City

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2025: #29 An album from an artist with fewer than 1000 monthly listeners on Spotify (49th Album)

Have you ever been hit by that unbearable toothache that painkillers fail to tame, leaving you staggering in a half-state of agony and analgesia? That’s kind of what this feels like. Bablicon – In a Different City swings between lethargic and wildly hectic moods, yet never loses the intensity it establishes from the start.

Genre-wise, it leans heavily into avant-garde jazz and avant-prog, with a bunch of unusual instruments you don’t often hear. Even the fucking theremin shows up briefly and it’s used surprisingly well. The track “2 Birds” really stood out to me. It’s got a great jazzy rhythm that’s oddly danceable, even though it sounds terrifying at first.

It’s a fine, atmospheric album, but honestly a bit too much for me. There are moments that work really well, but there’s just so much going on in these songs that it ends up hurting the overall quality. Like they poured in too many ideas at once: interesting, sure, but not to the album’s benefit.

Thank you [~SpeedKills] for the recommendation!