“Helium” by Wes Carroll Confabulation floats in the air like that carnival balloon, lost to the winds of change. The entire album dances at the threshold of reality, navigating the ethereal plane through neo-soul, jazz, and hip-hop flair. It’s akin to watching a kaleidoscope in slow motionᅳever-shifting and never quite predictable.
From haunting vibraphones to ambient slide guitar, “Helium” is a record that sonically houses an exploration of the labyrinth of contemporary life. Class and expensive living, fluid masculinity, and the quirky nature of love are wrestled with. Carroll’s clever wordplay keeps you tethered on the ground with deep grooves, even while the essence of the album solicits you to drift away.
Something playful, absurd is at work here: sexual humor bleeds into personal reflection, weaves a tapestry that’s both poignant and whimsical. The dynamic horn lines courtesy of Owen Chow and Rowan Farintosh cut through Dakota Hoeppner’s keyboard landscapes with an incisive richness in texture.
“Helium” is a dare to slow down, to grieve, to laugh, and to ponder precisely those very distractions which shape our existence. It’s an album that’s as much about the spaces between the notes as the notes themselves. Funhouse mirror reflection that asks which one of the versions of reality is the real one.
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