Revengeseekerz, Jane Remover’s high-octane record.
Revenge is a dish best served through high-quality speakers.
When Jane Remover dropped “JRJRJR” on January 1st, I was instantly taken by the production style that seemed completely different yet cohesive with the rest of Remover’s discography. In the single she treads the fine line between experimental music and straight up noise, dancing over the territory with agility that I have seen in few other artists. From the abrasive, growling bass to the piercing percussion that resembles breaking glass, the track is a shock to the ears topped with a dreamy synth progression. As the pioneer of the “Dariacore” genre and a SoundCloud sensation, Remover is known for experimenting and defying genre. Though I have always appreciated her shoegaze-inspired, experimental projects, I remember wishing she would move toward the maximalist, rage-infused digicore sound that I found wholly addictive. When she announced her third studio album, Revengeseekerz, which would include singles “JRJRJR” and “Dancing with your eyes closed,” I was ecstatic, knowing the album would boast many of the EDM–hip-hop fusion elements that had drawn me to the two songs.
Revengeseekerz, much like its singles, is characterized by cathartically maximalist production, glitchy synths, and booming basses. “Dancing with your eyes closed” features a glittery synth melody followed by an early 2000s-esque EDM beat drop and breakdown. The track is somewhat reminiscent of happy hardcore with sweeping saw waves and a four-on-the-floor beat pattern that drives the song forward. The overwhelming instrumentation crawls over Remover’s vocals without drowning them out, and the balance keeps the listener’s attention on the production that Remover handles by herself. The sixth track, “Dreamflasher,” includes the same deep 808 bass that permeates the album. It recedes for the verses which are laced with tender, emotional synths before being followed by sharp hi-hats and massive crashes before the pre-chorus. These songs fairly represent the rest of the album, which bridges experimental electronic and a more aux-able pop hip-hop style. The album consequently lingers on the intersection between the two realms.
Lyrically, the album touches on themes of anger and revenge. Remover explores these primarily through religious imagery. The fifth track, “angels in camo,” opens with “Dear God, place a curse on those who wronged me” and closes with the repetition of “I can't let you bitches win, I can't let you bitches win,” juxtaposed with rapid percussion, grating bass and aggressive vocal delivery that demand the listener’s attention. “I share names with demons,” Remover sings in the chorus, followed by “Pale-faced, I'm haunted and you scared of me/Up in a ray of sunshine, fucking smile demon” in the bridge, taunting those who have doubted or wronged her in the past.
The album also touches on the struggles of being an artist in the public’s eye. “Rehearsing songs I hate in Silver Lake, trying not to cry/Then I step up off the stage and they don't know I lost my mind/Bitches wanna crack some jokes, wanna see me crack a smile,” Remover sings in “JRJRJR,” potentially referencing the jokes that have been made about her name and the pressure put on her by listeners whose expectations of her differ from the artist that she wants to be. “I might ball out on a new face, change my name, then my city… So should I change my name again?” she sings, entertaining the possibility of starting over again, perhaps the way she is doing by creating an album wildly different from her previous musical projects. Altogether, the lyrical content of Revengeseekerz is packed with equal parts contempt and vulnerability, rage and introspection.
Perhaps the most interesting element of Revengeseekerz is the sheer amount of sampling. “Dancing with your eyes closed” begins with a sample from 1996 film The Craft and includes Wii Sports Resort sound effects. “Dreamflasher” opens with a sample from a video of Remover performing followed by a voice clip from the video game Duke Nukem. Fifth track “angels in camo” includes a voice clip from Pokemon Battle Revolution, and “JRJRJR” has a screaming sample from the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion. These only scratch the surface of the hundreds of samples Remover has included in the album.
These samples add to the “internet music” and nostalgic feel of the project, perhaps paying homage to her roots as a SoundCloud artist, or to general cultural shifts. As the real world is often eclipsed by the digital one, music becomes increasingly packaged to be accessed online. Remover’s sampling choices alongside the glitchy sound effects and extremely processed vocals contribute to the “raised by the internet” escapism of her soundscape. Alternately, the samples from childhood games and shows perhaps appeals to Gen-Z’s nostalgia as we contend with the uncertain digitized future.
Revengeseekerz is a clear departure from previous album Census Designated’s experimental shoegaze sound. Despite the differences between these projects, the new album does not feel discontinuous or inappropriate. Rather, it maintains Remover’s massive, overwhelming production style that stretches labels like “hyperpop” and “digicore” thin until they must be shed altogether to even try to grasp Remover’s intentions with the project. Remover has never fit perfectly—or even loosely—into a genre label, not only because her music is difficult to define, but because she is constantly evolving as an artist. Months before Revengeseekerz, she released a rock album under alter ego Venturing, Ghostholding, and the year before that, she released Flash in the Pan and Magic I Want U, which offer a tamer, dance pop-infused sound. Revengeseekerz fits into this picture as the next step in her musical evolution—not one that she is awkwardly trying to put on herself, but one that derives from the various faces she has worn in the past.
As a listener, I generally put production and vibes first and everything else second. Revengeseekerz was somehow exactly what I thought it would be while simultaneously blasting every expectation I had out of the water. While the lead singles gave me a good idea of what to expect, the album as a whole was much more expansive than I anticipated. “Psychoboost” featuring Danny Brown and “Dreamflasher” are my favorite tracks, and while I appreciate their high-octane production, the album is much more than just hype digicore. Rather, it is an experience I wish I could have for the first time again and the kind of album that necessitates a quiet room with high-quality headphones and an hour to listen to it in the intended order. Revengeseekerz is a brain-breaking, head-pounding maximalist project that I want to appreciate both as a collection of energetic tracks and as an art piece that has more to offer every time I listen to it.
edited by Greta Irvine.
album artwork believed to belong to either the publisher of the work or the artist.
