Muse Chronicle

Ian Mathias-Baker has navigated through an array of musical styles consistently meandering through and out of the boundaries of categorization. His unique knack for blending dystopian glitch, baroque counterpoint, and mainstream pop or rock has helped him cut a notch above the other artists. His discography radiates eclecticism: one moment, he creates bittersweet electro chill-out tracks with “Sungrazers”; the next, he delves into underground emo-pop with collaborations like “Jemma Willard”; and then he pivots to remixing tracks for some of the biggest names in Hip Hop. Mathias-Baker’s music is a living, breathing testament of the artist’s wide-ranging influences and his commitment to rise above the present-day compartmentalization of music genres. Whether producing original work or reinterpreting others’ work, his signature music style offers a distinct amalgam of innovation and emotional depth.

“Ian Mathias-Baker’s latest release, “Specific Gravity” isn’t just an album, but a moving literary text!”

Ian Mathias-Baker’s latest release, “Specific Gravity” is a masterclass musical consciousness paired with profound emotional depth. This 6-track album is inspired by the works of literary giants, T.S. Eliot and Charles Bukowski. The unrelenting melancholy of the album reflects classical influences and the brittle beauty of early 20^th-century modernism. The album builds on the foundation consisting of the four “Mythic Texts”. Here, he tackles Bukowski’s “Man Mowing the Lawn Across the Way from Me” and Eliot’s “The Hollow Men”. The tempo and gravity of the songs increase successively from 1 to 4. The dark imagery of the literary pieces are translated into music the distorted electric guitar. The songs feel truly hypnotic to the senses. The final “Mythic Text” is reminiscent of a Greek chorus that communicates the futility and horror of the preceding narratives. As the album fades out, a discordant theatre organ underscores the hubris of humanity, fixated on the unfolding spectacle yet powerless to change it. The title of the album, suggesting a profound grief of an unspoken tragedy, and its melancholic tone and thematic elements add additional layers of meaning to it making it a complex text that absorbs the listener and vice versa.

If you like songs that are imbues with complex melancholic fervor, this album is tailor-made for you!

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