By Deuce

There seems to be a little bit of everything on Moments of Sonder, a Long Player featuring the singing, production, and instrumentation of She’s Excited! You’ve got 11 cuts, seven featured artists, and no posse cuts (or those with more than one featured artist).

One of the tunes, which just so happens to feature Liuyu Ivy Che, has a title written in a foreign language that appears to be Chinese.

There’s rapping on this project, with vocals manned by Komputer on “All I Need”. The track itself is characterized by obese chords, a super clean snap with plenty of effects as the snare, and a deep bass line mimicking the notes of the chords. Komputer hits a verse or two before Excited! graces the track with her high notes.

And, it very well could be Komputer lacing up the hook and making a run for the best melody on the album when he, or another male vocalist, hits the feathery, melancholic refrain of “you’re all I need to make me happy”. The bass counterpoints the bright sounds on the chords, and the tune is sure to entice, or tease, some degree of emotion from the thoughtful listener.

A fair amount of this collection of numbers, of course, features the vocals of Excited! One can make the claim that some of her best work is on the leadoff track (which is also a single) “Celebrity Parade”. She’s got a throaty, expressive voice, which sounds suspiciously British in some passages.

It doesn’t hurt that she’s harmonizing over a bouncy, upbeat track, underpinned by long notes from the bass. The cut sounds like a video game in parts, has a good snare, and takes you for a rollercoaster ride when it abruptly changes tempos—and the drum pattern—at times, usually to showcase Excited’s crooning.

“Alone Together” is noteworthy for its paradoxical title as much as it is for the murmuring of Joana Brabo—in a language that evades the expertise of this reviewer. The piano adorning the track is slow and ponderous for the most part, although it does have a lively, if not reflective, high-pitched series of notes as well. At under two minutes it illustrates the range of the feelings and expression encapsulated in this offering.

“Perforated” does more of the same, albeit this time in a decidedly different direction. Excited! sings over a dark, dirty bass line that relishes in the crispness of the double-timed high hats. When she belts out—repeatedly—“my soul is perforated” on the hook, well, one is inclined to believe her.