IDIOPATH by Kenton Hall & The Necessary Measures
'Idiopath' by Kenton Hall & The Necessary Measures is, in my opinion, the greatest experiment in recent indie music history. This nearly three-hour album goes beyond the usual music and captures more and more of our reality. I know that independent artists go to incredible lengths to release their projects. This is especially true for albums where you go in-depth with the concept of the storyline and the creative part. Such releases are always special and require close attention due to their difficult implementation. Let's make it clear, Kenton Hall's 'Idiopath' is a grandiose and voluminous work. The album includes 36 tracks, 3 acts, a 3 CD edition, vinyl edition, and a full cover album called 'Omniopath'.
After the first encounter with 'Idiopath,' one experiences a shock-like state - the consciousness of today's man is no longer accustomed to artistic constructions that challenge the listener by their volume alone. For a long time it seemed as if bold ideas remained somewhere in the art history of the 20th and even 19th centuries - and now the time has come: the current reincarnation of 'Idiopath' is a pop-rock arthouse with 36 tracks in the genre of synth, psychedelic rock, acoustic and Americana, with a total duration of 2 hours and 19 minutes. The seriousness of approach and the scale of thought 'Idiopath' breaks so much from the petty agenda of contemporary art that it rather evokes analogies with literary epics. Each song has its own artistic register, its own spatial coordinate system, its own genre look, its own orchestration and semantic charge.
The first act introduces the listener to the universe of Kenton Hall. With the track 'Keep It Simple,' the musician subtly introduces the listener to the album and its unique sound. Light, gentle acoustic rock arouses curiosity. But already from the second track Kenton Hall brings to life his ideas in the entourage of arthouse rock. I was overwhelmed by new, inexplicable emotions while listening. I was interested and excited to see what direction the album would take. The first act transitions into the second, maintaining its style and continuing the journey.
Sailing through the ocean 'Idiopath', our ship finds the island, and from that moment on, nothing will be the same. The track 'Don't Take My Picture' is powerful, unwavering, strong and distinctive. In the song, the musician seems to have completely forgotten the boundaries of genres and enters a new space of psychedelic rock. The climax of the album is coming, and I can hear it in the third act. In the track 'The Final Hours of Those I Failed' the musician allows a break from the long road and enjoys the slow acoustic piece. My absolute favorite in the third act is the dark and gloomy ballad 'Belly of the Beautiful'.
'In Summation' is an acoustic song, melancholic violins, voluminous vocals with backing parts indicate the happy ending of the adventure 'Idiopath.' The music of the album either exploded with rock songs or swayed in a calm on clear water to the chords of acoustic pieces. It was amazing and unforgettable! And I was sad to hear the finale and say goodbye to the album.
It's hard to single out individual songs, they are all different, but together they add up to a whole and resonate with each other. It seems to me that ‘Idiopath’ is a hymn to freedom and an example of the lack of boundaries in creative knowledge. But not everyone will survive this experience. It's too powerful a thing and you need to go through it alone, and preferably with headphones. The album leaves deep impressions, stimulates to think about eternal questions. Kenton Hall seems to make music from another dimension, and this world is different from ours. And I am glad that I managed to get in touch with the great inner world of the Kenton. Recommended only for connoisseurs of non-standard art.
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