All Of This Will End＜Transparent Green Vinyl＞

When last we heard from visceral indie rocker Indigo De Souza on 2021s traumatized Any Shape You Take, she was grappling with topics like dysfunctional relationships, death, and despair. Nearly two years later, theres still plenty weighing heavily on her mind, but, as the title suggests, All of This Will End finds De Souza in a more reflective place, having -- for the most part, at least -- come through on the other side. In fact, opening track "Time Back" is kinda sorta about just that, though she doesnt get there easily. After airily delivering lines like "Im so tired of crying/I wanna get back up again" over a spacey keyboard pop, with words distanced by the use of voice filters, things get realer when the noise, bass, and drums kick in on a full-threated "Dont bleed me dry." Later in the song, she rants over a circus-like keyboard tune and the shrieks of children at play: "Im sad/Im tired/I want my time back," although she does add "Getting better/Still want to." She continues to say her piece on alt-rockers like "You Can Be Mean," "Wasting Your Time," and the shrieking "Always," but takes a decidedly philosophical, even accepting, turn on the more reflective "Losing" ("There is nothing I can do when the winds of change blow through") and a wistful title track that speaks of forgiveness. Along the way, De Souza delivers some surprises, like the disco-injected, explicit "Smog," the dreamily poppy, horns-accompanied "The Water," and the partly operatic "Not My Body," before ending the album on an earnest piano ballad called "Younger & Dumber" on which she forgives herself with the closing words "I didnt know better." ~ Marcy Donelson