Notes on "Spiro World" by Time Wharp
"Spiro World (or One Must First Become Aware Of The Body) is the definitive Time Wharp full-length coming of age collection. Unhinged to any particular music scene, Spiro’s (in reference to prescription drug spironolactone) unabashed yet vulnerable all genre album story by its Brooklyn-based artist Kaye Loggins describes somatically profound personal experiences of derealization, the endocrinological mixolydian heaven & pharma hell on earth, and love letters to New York.
Imagining and creating futures can be frightening, joyous, difficult, effortless, inevitable.
MEDICARE FOR ALL NOW" -From the Spiro World Bandcamp page
I’m trying to understand what the flavor text, presumably written by Kaye Loggins, means. “Somatically profound personal experiences of derealization”. Somatic, derived from the Greek term sōmatikōs, relates directly to the body, distinct from the mind. Psychiatrists treat the mind. Neurologists treat the brain, which is part of the body, and distinct from “the mind”. Of course in a more narrow biblical term, sōmatikōs refers specifically to the so-called "exalted" body, or the purified soul made manifest within the heavenly sphere; the "ascended being". Colossians 2:9 is referring directly to Christ, according to the New King James Version: For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
What is “derealization”? It’s a form of dissociation, an alteration of human perception, when somebody perceives the external world as unreal. Derealization may manifest in times of great stress.
So what does this phrase mean? Somatically profound personal experiences of derealization. Dissociation of mind and body. An “out of body” experience? Perhaps the world around you can become so alien and frightening that you disconnect from it as a sort of defense mechanism. But the term somatically is deliberate. Not the mind retreating from the body, but the body retreating from the mind. The rejection of intellectual pursuits? The simple desire to “turn off the brain”, stop thinking and just feel? To follow one’s instincts instead of one’s thoughts? Moments of great stress can cause fight or flight responses. No thinking involved there. Pure instinct. The body overrides the mind.
Perhaps the phrase refers to a regression to a sort of state of innocence as a response to a world gone mad. The music of Spiro World seems to seek to engage with the listener on a deeper, more primal level, not unlike Lyra Pramuk’s FOUNTAIN. Perhaps the music has been crafted to speak more to the body than the mind.
The drug Spironolactone is a diuretic SAA (steroidal antiandrogen) used primarily as a treatment for heart failure, quite literally helping to safeguard the human heart. Is Spiro World an aspirational term? A world that protects the heart from sadness and fear? Or is it a warning against a world that works too hard to keep the heart “safe” from the dangers of loving and losing, a world that protects us from heartbreak, a world that prevents us from feeling the true breadth of the human experience? Dehumanization? Or a balm to heal the heart in the aftermath of great sorrow?
Spironolactone is also commonly used as a part of transgender hormone therapy for trans women. The drug serves to block androgen receptors and inhibits production of testosterone. Is this significant? A more feminine world? Spironolactone may represent the suppression of aggressive masculine tendencies in favor of more feminine traits. Is this a benign dream of a more inclusive, female-driven world? Most likely not. I’m probably just thinking too much about this stuff. I only really know that I know very little. It’s fascinating to think about, however.
What about the “endocrinological mixolydian heaven and pharma hell on earth”? Are these two different things or one and the same? The endocrine system produces hormones. The pineal gland, the pituitary gland, ovaries and testes are all part of the endocrine system. Ovaries and testes. Are gender roles a part of this equation? The hypothalamus regulates the autonomic nervous system. Is this significant?
And then there’s the “mixolydian” reference. This could refer to three different musical scales: the Ancient Greek, one popularized in the medieval Catholic Church, or the modern scale that derived from the medieval scale. This is way outside of my wheelhouse, so I frankly have no idea what it means. I know the bare minimum of scales in general, and to my untrained ear I can’t really tell the difference between many on my own. Some popular modern songs performed in the modern Mixolydian scale include “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” by The Beatles, “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)” by Beyoncé, “Clocks” by Coldplay, and “Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift. Does this mean I now understand what the Mixolydian scale is? Absolutely not. But if we refer to the modern Mixolydian scale, which begins on the fifth degree of the major scale, we're referring to what is known as a dominant scale. There are other dominant scales, such as the Phrygian and Aeolian, also sometimes known as Mixolydian b6. In fact, I believe there are twelve Mixolydian modes in total, but I'm going to stop here, for to travel down this particular path is a mind-bending experience and it's quite easy to get lost, especially if (like yours truly) you have no great knowledge of music theory.
But if we put these words together: endocrinological mixolydian heaven, can we learn anything? Hormones can regulate mood, and the Mixolydian scale affects our mood. Endorphins are produced by the pituitary gland, activating the body’s opiate receptors. This endocrinological mixolydian heaven may be a perceived state of bliss the music of Spiro World is trying to help us attain. A natural endorphin rush. A clean, safe high. And the “pharma hell”, the so-called “better living through chemistry”, a false sense of bliss attained by drugs, a commentary on the destructive nature of opioid addiction, perhaps? Our “heaven” is a natural state attained through musical therapy, and the “hell” is a product of outside forces that threaten our very lives.
When we look at the subtitle One Must First Become Aware Of The Body, the whole text sounds like a wake-up call. Can we open our eyes to a form of transcendence that begins not within the mind, but within the body? A somatically profound personal experience of derealization? Is the music the key to unlock this experience? Once again, I have no idea what any of this actually has to do with Spiro World. Probably nothing. But it's fun to think about. There are some big ideas at play here. I know that I don't understand them. But I also find it all completely fascinating.
The brilliant title track begins with a tinny melody that sounds like a broken music box. Then that simple synth beat drops as a perfect complement and I’m in heaven. The only way I can describe the effervescent way this track makes me feel is: It’s a light adventure with low stakes that feels very relaxing. You’re delivering an apple pie grandma just baked to your neighbors on the other side of the woods. You might come across a family of adorable raccoons that wants your apple pie, but they’re not going to attack you. They’ll just look cute and tell you they’re starving (of course they can talk) and you’ll feel tempted to give them that pie, but will you? What will the neighbors say when they learn you’ve fed the delicious pie your grandma promised them to some trash pandas in the woods? What will grandma think? That’s the hardest choice you’ll have to make on this quest. And that's a wonderful thing. It reminds me so much of a wonderful pastoral RPG called Wanderhome that has captured my imagination in a very similar way. In fact, Spiro World may be the perfect soundtrack for a relaxing game of Wanderhome.
Spiro World is one of the coolest things I've listened to in recent memory. Such a comforting, beautiful world Kaye Loggins has created with this expansive, endlessly imaginative music.
This whole post is a bunch of fucking gibberish.
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