Quin Galavis Remembers “Our Loved Ones” (premiere)

Austin, Texas songwriter Quin Galavis has, to date, issued three albums and, now, in 2019, we receive three more, spread across the calendar year, starting with Victim / Non-Victim, Pt. 1, due 15 February via Super Secret Records.

The collection encapsulates a near-death scare, a new child, an alcoholic breakdown, and the passing of one generation to the next. “Our Loved Ones”, might perfectly encapsulate each of those in a little more than three minutes. With Galavis delivering an emotionally-charged vocal over a musical setting that recalls Guided By Voices at its most exhilarating, the song speaks to the pendulum swing of life and death; the fears and frights that visit us all as we becoming increasingly aware of our own mortality; the fear that our existence might not add up to as much as we’ve expected.

“This record I wrote after an intense period in my life,” Galavis explains. “I decided to approach this record as a way to confront all the things that created the feelings and characters in my double album My Life in Steel and Concrete and in the process confront all the things that have driven me to art and self-destruction. So where MLISAC was expressing a sense of uncertainty and resignation, this record is truly a way to find out why I am the way I am and what abuses I have been through and the abuse I deliver on others. So, I am going to have to spread it out in three records! These records aren’t just going to be a cathartic thing like MLISAC, but more as a purge of my old life and finally a reset.”

Opening with the dramatic, cathartic “Theme 1”, the record moves to the chiming, Smiths-esque “Not Aware” to the dark and meditative “It’s Golden”. Elsewhere, there’s the danger-laden “Burn the Room”, the chiming shoegaze happiness (at least musically) of “What It Takes” and the irresolute (Or is it resolved?) “Anthem”. In short, Galavis takes us on emotional and musical journey that doesn’t provide easy answers or easy ways out.

Joining him in this endeavor are Graham Low (A Giant Dog), Victor Gutierrez (Impalers, Vaaska), Natalie Ribbons (TeleNovella, Agent Ribbons), Jason Chronis (Voxtrot, TeleNovella), Jenny Arthur (Lung Letters, the Dead Space) and many others.