Photo by Emma McDonald

Alyse Lamb is spirit not unfamiliar to deconstructing our darkest realities through noise and punk art. She previously fronted the Brooklyn post-punk outfit EULA, and then in their demise, began focusing her creative energy as the guitarist and vocalist as one half of the experimental duo Parlor Walls. Alyse Dreamhouse is now Lamb and Lamb alone with a guitar, vocal pedal effects, a collection of synths, a Korg Electribe-R MKII drum machine, and an SP 404-SX sampler. On the positive side, there’s no one there to bound her to any limits in sound, but on the other, she can and will take you to some uncomfortable places doing so, as she does on “Magazine”, an early single highlight off her debut solo album, Body Mess, an album whose origin circles the drain of grief, anger, and self-enlightenment in the wake of a tragic loss.

Consider this the entry point to the subsequent war between Lamb’s subconscious and her heart, which find themselves at odds with one another after being thrown into that void. Its early moments are like a false flag, casting a serene dream spell, pulling you in under with a pretense of safety. Once held within her psyche’s grasp, the listen unravels nightmarish, becoming a tense palpitating torment where cosmic synths feed off the universe’s chaotic imbalance. “I tried all the lines / And made good every time / Took your words as mine / And I died,” she sings, repeatedly punctuated with more unease. But then, miracle powers intervene in a buoyant reckoning of warped, technicolor synth-pop. “Can’t you see the magazine in me?” In a sense, it’s like encountering the same death by the same thought in your head over and over, with Alyse Dreamhouse forcing them out by demanding they answer to her.

Alyse Dreamhouse’s “Magazine” b/w “Puff Puff” single is available now.