Freidrich$’s new EP, “Doll, Here I Am”, is more personal and exposed. He doesn’t hide behind the big vocals and layers of processing, he trusts in his voice to shine through with less protection. Sometimes it cracks, jokes, pleads and almost sounds like a conversation and makes the project intimate and unpredictable.
The EP travels through relationship breakdown, romantic infatuation and the basic need of the human heart to be loved and seen. “After Life” and “A Try” set the tone for that side of the person, while “Up in Our Lives” and “Adore Me” draw the need for attention and affection to the surface. These feelings are so poignantly tender and so amusingly ridiculous in Freidrich$’s hands, particularly when desiring love is made deeply serious and a bit shameful.
As the EP progresses, the subject matter becomes more philosophical. “Wine / The Bardo State” and “Food For Da Moon / Live Again” move toward ideas of reincarnation, the Bardo state, the prison planet and Gurdjieff’s concept of humanity being “food for the moon.” These concepts are unusual and substantial, but distinctly enhance the project without detracting from its human heart.
In “Doll, Here I Am”, the listener feels as though the artist has taken the mask off her face and pulled the listener in closer. It’s raw, personal and sometimes unusual, but it’s this truthfulness that makes the EP so special.
