Kierstan Ladzinski
September 30, 2016 via Joy Void Recordings
“Warmth Equation is a beautiful, intimate and all-encompassing portrait of grief. Caroline White has the kind of voice that immediately shatters your heart into a thousand tiny pieces.” –Noisey
Though Infinity Crush’s Derrick Brandon and Caroline White only met about two years ago, they hit it off almost immediately. They became best friends quickly, and it wasn’t long before White began to integrate Brandon into her music. White wrote the majority Warmth Equation – the first Infinity Crush release for Joy Void Recordings – solo before bringing in Brandon for guitar and keys to compliment White’s melodies. On the record, they are also joined by Sam Ray (Teen Suicide, Ricky Eat Acid, Julia Brown) who contributed vocals and keyboards. Formed in Maryland, much of the band’s style is influenced in part by the abundant, yet desolate nature that constantly surrounds them. “Maryland has a million trees and everything is extremely spread out. I drive everywhere, which I think comes up a lot in my songs. There’s something strangely intimate about driving through a landscape, where you feel very alone and in touch with yourself but you’re also quite literally surrounded by others. It’s easy to isolate yourself in this environment, and I often do.”
Recorded between 2013 and 2015 and across a handful of different homes, including White’s and Ray’s, Warmth Equation was never intended to have thematic unity. However, the passing of White’s father created a theme of its own, White using the project as a means of honoring her father’s life. In comparison to her previous work, the writing process was long and arduous. “By the time the album is released, it will be almost three years since I have released music under the Infinity Crush moniker… I no longer wanted to release demos. I wanted to work on songs and have a polished, comprehensive product that I felt reflected me and my experiences… I slowed down in my writing a lot, lost the prolificacy. I recorded songs and never liked them, never felt satisfied, and went through a long period of never writing or recording both because of debilitating depression and overwhelming dissatisfaction. Trying to record songs created a cycle of self-loathing… It was an incredibly exhausting experience.” However, the motive to create a product that would celebrate the life of her father forced White to persevere, calling on others to help craft the finished product. “I think recording with others is the only reason that this album was able to be finished. In retrospect, their motivation and excitement about my music was pivotal and I really, really needed it. I had lost the ability to objectively examine my art.”
Warmth Equation is a collection of twelve short songs that work toward interpreting loss and grief through different lenses. It tries to take a realistic, all-encompassing perspective of grief, a view that includes the expected feelings of overwhelming devastation, but also moments of happiness or love or sexuality. “There is an intersection of mourning and love that the album wants to deal with as it attempts to illustrate the complex nature of loss. [It] acts as documentation for this period of my life, which is defined not only by death and absence, but also the love and friendship and memories that helped me navigate through it.” In addition to taking immense influence from friends like Ray and Elvis Depressedly, White also credits Angel Olsen as an inspiration in the arrangement of her songs, and Alex G as a major player in making her think differently about crafting a melody.
Tracklist:
01) Drowning Here With All My Friends
02) Everything Being Still
03) Whisper
04) Lilacs
05) Sun Ache
06) Spoiled
07) Wipe Down
08) Pete And Pete
09) Simple
10) Over You
11) Flightless
12) Heaven
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