Odalie - Optimistic Nihilism

A Closer Listen

A long spiral path at the Museum of Natural History traces the history of earth from its humble origins to the present day.  Around and around the circle goes, yielding no sign of humanity until one arrives at a minuscule mark at the end.  In a similar fashion, the museum’s planetarium emphasizes the scale of our entire planet’s existence.  The effect is revelatory.

Odalie visualizes this experience in the cover art of Optimistic Nihilism.  A woman floating in a seemingly endless void (or lying in dirt when one looks closely) seems resigned to her fate, her body motionless and prone.  In recognizing the absurdity of today’s petty differences and power struggles, the musician writes, “embracing the absurdity and fragility of our human condition becomes an invitation to create meaning together—not through a quest for power or domination, but through solidarity and cooperation.”  Her EP declares that despite our fleeting existence, we can still rise above our circumstances, the philosophy of Ecclesiastes, who concluded that “everything is useless” while urging his readers to work hard, enjoy the fruits of their labor and align themselves with Goodness.

Dancing may be seen as nihilistic, especially when one is dancing as the world seems to be ending; but not to dance when the beats emerge is an even more depressing scenario.  Odalie offers a way to have both.  Her songs acknowledge darkness without claiming absolute darkness.  The pairing of “Wabi” and “Sabi” traces the Japanese view of imperfection as a facet of life to be embraced.  The compositions, crunchy and percussive, have an internal propulsion that implies forward motion rather than stasis; “Wabi”s increasingly frantic cello and hyperactive percussion imitate agitated molecules, while “Sabi” starts at this upper tempo and never slows.

Lead single “Emotional Prism” is the album’s warmest and most empathetic track, acknowledging the melancholy of the world, but pushing through it to find something more meaningful: perhaps a sense of engagement that grows from self-inventory.  After this, “Dancing With Chaos” seems like a tentative celebration, a 21st century instrumental descendent of “Dancing With Myself.”  Vocalist Sink arrives for the closing “Cannot,” underlining the thought, “we cannot fold.”

Is optimism realism?  Does it matter?  Even if optimism is only a coping device, it breaks us out of lethargy and serves as a counter-balance to pure nihilism.  If nothing matters, everything matters, and therein lies the rub.  (Richard Allen)