There’s one thing arrestingly primal in the way in which Byron Ciotter strips his soul naked in Impossibilities. Whereas most artists polish ache till it sparkles, Ciotter lets it crack and creak via each chord on this lo-fi melodic rock elegy that aches with the load of unprocessed loss, love, and the common pull of unanswered questions.
Drawing from twenty years of eclecticism that began in Southern Maryland’s steel scene in 2005, Ciotter’s path to Impossibilities was paved via the wreckage of trauma, the solace of connection, and the quiet contemplation of loss of life, divorce, and fleeting affection. It’s a great distance from distorted riffs and high-octane catharsis—now the load is carried by pared-back progressions that resound like intimate confessions. There’s no filter between the listener and the flood of reflection. Each observe feels lived in, each lyric sounds prefer it was torn from the again web page of a pocket book too personal to publish.
Whereas Ciotter could by no means declare a crown for innovation, he’s reached the epitome of emotive expression. His unembellished strategy to songwriting serves as a uncooked conduit of connection, one solid within the fires of non-public expertise and cooled within the lo-fi tones of acoustic melancholy.
Impossibilities is now accessible to stream on all main platforms, together with YouTube.
Evaluation by Amelia Vandergast
