Shadow Works by Kerli | Album Review
Estonian electro-pop star delves into her dark side on her third album.
Kerli’s career has been about perseverance. Having got her start at the age of 14 in a Baltic singing competition, she would hit a rough patch only two years later after being dropped by her label. This didn’t stifle her drive. In 2008, she released her debut album Love Is Dead. The success of the album’s second single “Walking on Air” garnered her a wider audience. Kerli would cultivate her style which is dubbed “Bubble Goth”, begin developing her own outfits and videos, and work as a songwriter. The most notable credit to her name comes from Demi Lovato’s “Skyscraper.”After a 6 year pause between records, Kerli returns with a record seeking to tackle her shadow side. She dives deeper into her need to explore her darker realms in her Beautiful Bizarre interview:
“The term “shadow work” is actually coined by Carl Jung and is an inevitable step in the process of becoming ourselves fully. Our shadows silently run our lives until we know, own and love them. Only then can we be free… Shadow works is an exploration of my own shadow. It’s a collection of music designed to connect the listener to their disowned parts and to honour their hidden self. I explore the feelings of victimhood, codependence, lust, guilt and defeat. There are also frequencies that symbolise the eventual triumph over darkness. The vocal scales that start, part and end the collections, are designed to bring the listener into a meditative state so that the shadow work can be performed.” — Kerli via Beautiful Bizarre (2019)
We begin the record with the vocal-instrumental “The Opening of the Way (Intro).” Kerli’s voice dances and flutters about like ashes in the wind. As she has stated in the interview above, this acts as the barrier we must cross to start the true journey.
“Mimicry” starts us out with the bright pulsing sounds of synths that act as the grounding white landscape that Kerli trudges through lyrically. She keeps the theme of being led astray very ambiguous. The chorus, “Mimicry/ Shifting with the light/ Changing by the night/ You’re a glorious lie/ I’ll never find you/ Creature of disguise/ You just take a life/ And play dead,” could honestly point both towards a manipulative being or an internal battle with ones own mental health. The softness brought in by the electronic production keeps a sense of hope shining through the trauma experienced by Kerli throughout the piece.
We get an injection of energy on “Everybody Bleeds the Same.” The pearlescent hum of the synths gets shocked by the sudden drop of the beat at the end of the chorus. At the same time, this break acts as a release of frustration over the feelings of loss and disappointment that Kerli is feeling over how this relationship has ended. She keeps this meditative sound in the verses where she takes an introspective look at her emotional wounds. The hook, “Everybody bleeds the same,” is delivered with such power that it feels like a battle cry. It’s a sort of mantra to remember that you aren’t alone in your pain.
“Savages” brings in a darker vibe through the thick flow of the bassline. It brings out the toxicity in the relationship she’s singing on. Despite her disdain for this person, she’s still pulled in by their sexual gravity: “But we’ll be making love like savages/ I’ll lick the poison from right off your kiss/ Fall on rosy thorns for a taste of lethal bliss, oh/ Oh, we’ll be making love like savages.” In this moment the song sprays outward in a bright mist of charged electro-pop. It’s both savage how they treat each other and how they come back together in carnal bliss.
“One” has this broken, disjointed feeling from the stuttering acoustic guitar and isolated beats. This lightness comes off like light pouring into an abandoned building. Kerli seems completely absorbed by her own depression that closed the rest of the world off to her, “And no I don’t need another reincarnation/ Losing my mind searching for explanation/ Faithful to my made up mission/ I never felt like enough/ I was never enough.” The amorphous sound of this does a great job capturing that sense of vulnerability and hopelessness you get when in the throws of depression.
We pause for a minute to cross yet another vocal instrumental interlude on “Purification (Interlude).” This one has a bit more drama to it as Kerli’s vocals take on a bit more of a solemn quality. It’s almost like a moment to process the emotional strain brought on by the prior tracks.
“Legends” brings a heavy, oppressive feeling as the horns and beat hit in the chorus. All of this used to energize Kerli’s certain theme of a new generation made for change, “We’re the world’s new invention/ A brand new generation/ From your imagination/ We’re coming, we’re coming… We’re already legends/ We’re just young, we’re just young.” I do think the song is a little bit too ‘Top 40' for my liking. I do think the grit she brings to this helps to anchor the call to inspire the next generation. It’s just not something I connect with sonically.
Kerli starts to curve her electronic sound into a more unnerving realm on “Where the Dark Things Are.” The commanding synth line brings a little Nine Inch Nails flavor to the mix. She adds to this warped atmosphere by bending and pulling her vocals. All of this amplifies her urges to explore the seemingly darker sides of sexuality, “Ruin and ravage/ Make me your priestess/ Rip me to pieces/ Cause you know I would die if I won’t live/ Push me down to my knees/ And take me where the dark things are/ Where the dark things are.” It’s solidly in pop territory, yet distorted in a way that crosses the line into alternative.
We add a little rock texture into her ode learning from your mistakes on “Better.” Much like the beginning of the album, the synth and guitar work cast an eggshell white glow upon the entire piece. She puts us in the contemplative space to help us understand we will only be stronger on the other side of our struggles, “To fly you need to fall/ And I have won the war/ The battles that were lost/ Now don’t matter/ I won’t blame the world/ ’Cause every time it hurts/ When I went through the worst/ I came out better.” It may be a little cliche, but I find the way Kerli delivers her message to lift the listener out of the hole they may be in emotionally.
“Giving Up the Ghost” has a more resolute sound than the songs that came before it. The delicate piano line placed against the strength of the synths allows us the space to purge the spectators of an old relationship. She brings a tenderness to this release of anger that comes off as wonderfully healing, “Forgiving what can be forgotten/ Oh, I am giving up your ghost
So I no more have to live haunted/ Go now in peace little restless soul/ Of all of the things I’ve loved you the most.” I find it to be one of the best-written sentiments on this album.
The final full song on the album, “Tuleloits,” closes out the album in Kerli’s mother tongue Estonian. The title translates as “The Invocation of Fire”, which can be heard through the crackling of flames in the song’s opening. She gives the song a real tribal/ritual vibe through the hum of didgeridoo and earthen drums. Its central theme is a call to brighten the darkness, dry our eyes, and heal us from our traumas. I love the way this sounds, her use of Estonian, and the cleansing nature of this track. It’s a personal favorite of mine from this album.
The outro to this project is yet another vocal instrumental titled “Shadow Works (Outro).” Kerli’s melodies climb in this ethereal way that acts as a final washing clean of all the negativity that we have encountered along the way. Personally, I really enjoy the soft, ambient vibe tone this piece has. It’s an extremely soothing way to close out the record.
I had forgotten the ear Kerli has for pop music. I appreciate the way she puts her own flavor into the electro-pop genre. The overall themes of overcoming hopelessness, toxicity, and negativity come off very well. I do think the interludes work nicely to allow the listener to process the prior couple of song’s messages before moving forward. The album’s weak points come in with some of the consistently similar production. I also think the single “Legends” is a bit too on the nose for my tastes. That said, I was very pleased with my entire journey through Kerli’s latest release. My overall thoughts on Shadow Works:
Loved it: “Mimicry”, “One”, Where the Dark Things Are”, “Better”, “Giving Up the Ghost”, “Tuleloits” & “Shadow Works (Outro)”
Liked it: “The Opening of the Way (Intro)”, “Everybody Bleeds the Same”, “Savages” & “Purification (Interlude)”
Disliked it: “Legends”
My overall rating: 7.5 out of 10.
