Written by Lindsay Kafka
The ever-evolving WILLOW, who released her first hit single “Whip My Hair” when she was only nine years old, has recently released her sixth studio album. The deluxe edition of her newest album empathogen is titled Ceremonial Contrafact and was released on September 27, 2024. Over her fifteen years in the music industry, WILLOW has dabbled in a vast and colorful array of genres, spanning mainstream and experimental pop, alternative R&B, indie-rock, and pop-punk-inspired grunge. On ceremonial contrafact, she finds her ideal intersection between her previously explored musical facets, innovating a new blend of these genres that is primarily centered around contemporary jazz.
The title of the original release alone, Empathogen, underpins the album’s eye-opening and soul-enveloping nature. “Empathogens are pathogens that create empathy when you ingest them,” Willow explains in her interview with Billboard. This album is synonymous with an empathogen as it undeniably invokes the same empathetic, deep feelings in its listeners.
Perhaps the most poignant and blaring feeling invoked by Empathogen is a desperation for strength. Songs like symptom of life, run!, and b i g f e e l i n g s yearn for domination with faster-paced beats, a fierce demonstration of WILLOW’s unrestrained vocal capabilities, and a generous dose of experimental, erring-on electronic, synths and sounds. Blunt and demanding lyrics such as, “I have such big feelings, can’t shut ‘em down without a sound (b i g f e e l i n gs )”, “This pattern, it’s maddening, making a tragedy happen that’s not even real (run!),” and “Beauty is a symptom of life, gotta decide how we’re gonna heal it (symptom of life)” illustrate the internal and external struggle for power wrought on by this game we call life.
There’s no question why a mind as inquisitive and self-aware as WILLOW’s depicts optimism and self-growth as other prominent themes in Empathogen. Upbeat songs, flurrying with percussion, piano riffs, and high-pitched vocals, provide a lively backing for lyrics centered around self-awareness and growth. In false self and wanted, WILLOW frantically proclaims “How do I need to change? Ask myself the same every day (false self)” and “I’m not fine, I need to process this **** in my life (wanted)”. In home and between i and she, WILLOW seems to sing “I live my life in a river of grace (home)” and “Palms to the earth because I feel her breathe, syncing to a rhythm between I and she (between i and she)” with a contented smile on her face.
Empathogen doesn’t shy away from the more intimate side of human emotion either. Slower songs mimic slowed heartbeats, prompting listeners into a trance-like feeling of heartache. On ceremonial contrafact’s to you, WILLOW’s pained voice murmurs “I hate to wonder what am I to you… (to you),” accompanied by a melancholic, droning saxophone. On the song down, in the same romantic tone, albeit more seductive this time, WILLOW coos the lyrics “So far, not sure who we are, warm hands touch my heart, make friends with the dark (down),” supported by a slowed percussive beat and groovy bass line. The same passionate bass transcends into I know that face and emphasizes the consoling and loving lyrics, “Watching you, baby, can you see inside? Please don’t hide. (I know that face)”.
And conclusively, in a manner similar to her earliest album releases ARDIPITHECUS and The 1st, WILLOW coaxes in a more atmospheric vibe orbiting lyrics of spirituality, enlightenment, and awakening. On ancient girl, acoustic, ghostly guitar shadows WILLOW’s strained voice, reminiscent of a spiritual chant in a sense, as she recites the words, “Drink sacrament, overflowing, endless reasons, to remember the story of that ancient girl (ancient girl)”. With a similarly contemplative, but more tumbling and urgent feeling, WILLOW proclaims on layers, “There’s nothing else to do, just to see it through (layers)” and “The silence knows you, the silence knows me too (layers)”. Pain for fun takes on an almost identical vibe, but with slightly more pop influence, as WILLOW and St. Vincent, who features on this track, echo the words “There’s always, and always, and always, and always a need (pain for fun)”.
Ceremonial contrafact (empathogen deluxe) can draw the spirit and full breadth of human emotion out of even the most passive listener. WILLOW has formulated an utterly intoxicating “empathogen” with this album, reeling in creativity and wondrous production.
Favorite tracks: to you, “I know that face.”, between i and she, false self, and layers
Rating: 9.5/10
Album cover for ceremonial contrafact (empathogen deluxe) by WILLOW. Image courtesy of record label Three Six Zero.