Arily Michele has delivered a psychedelic pop masterclass with ‘Highway Hypnosis’, a sprawling concept album that tells a story of heartbreak, escape and liberation.
The nine-track project was produced entirely by the US singer-songwriter herself, and details the journey of a woman fleeing an abusive marriage en route to self-acceptance, only to fall into old habits upon a chance encounter with a criminal.
All of it is bound by Michele’s distinct psych-pop sound, beginning our journey with the warped vocals and pulsating synths of the title track.
Brooding and spacious, the deeply textured ‘Highway Hypnosis’ details the start of the narrator’s voyage, as told through Michele’s classical-style vocals.
Echoey effects and swelling keys bring an atmospheric feel to the opener, as Michele sings of “losing my mind just a little bit at a time.”
Later, bouncy trap-like beats and airy backing harmonies soundtrack the home stretch of the subject’s road trip.
Michele has a clear knack for big, spacious and soaring soundscapes, with production so layered there’s always something new to catch on a second listen.
She opts for Madonna-like spoken word riffs, with stacked harmonies so ascendant they might just touch the heavens.
Big on ambience and world-building, Michele enters dream pop territory on ‘Finer Things’, which is punctuated by twinkly tambourines as the singer compares a relationship to a “comfortable prison of our design.”
There’s an almost Kate Bush-like quality to Michele’s sound, as she toys with powerhouse pop moments while focussing on the richness and ear-catching flairs that make the songs consistently engaging.
On album standout ‘Sleepwalking’, she channels Caroline Polocheck with sporadic finger-click percussion and more traditional catchy refrains, while ‘Pity Party’ and ‘Pink Clouds’ are pure synth-pop with sci-fi twinkles that feel like a voyage through the cosmos.
We meet the concept album’s love interest on ‘Go Steady’, a simmering cut with pulsating drums that perfectly match the daring lyrics.
Here, the narrator gives into her desires — perhaps against her better judgement — singing of a mysterious “handsome stranger” whom she wakes up next to. It marks one of the album’s more R&B-leaning tracks, with punchy drums and a sauntering rhythm and distorted vocal asides.
The character tries to unravel her new flame’s mystery on ‘In Pieces’, before ‘Blackberry Sage’ finds her dreaming of being wine drunk in a Sicillian garden.
The latter song is an exercise in pure escapism, helped along by celestial synths, as Michele pleads with a lover to “go easy on me.”
The spirit of experimentalism across the entire tracklist is a major drawcard of ‘Highway Hypnosis’, with ‘Père Lachaise’ feeling like a pastiche of 80s soft-rock, synth-pop and hazy shoegaze.
It’s here that our narrator attempts to break free from her patterns, demanding a partner “spare me all your rage,” and declaring “it’s not my job to make you happy.”
Michele’s efforts culminate on ‘St. Vrain’, a triumphant anthemic pop moment. Here, 80s-like synths and punchy percussion provide the backdrop for a stirring ballad, as the narrator concludes her travels.
“I don’t want to leave here, but I have to,” she sings bookending the sonic and narrative odyssey she’s taken us on throughout ‘Highway Hypnosis’.
What all of it amounts to is a deeply intentional and expansive album, one that’s sure to move listeners through the sheer transcendence of Michele’s sound and the storytelling of her lyrics.
Listen to Arily Michele’s new album ‘Highway Hypnosis’ below.
