Elsewhere’s New Single “Life…is a Fraction VI. Realization”

Sleek in shape but rigid enough to have a touch of agility to its intro, Elsewhere’s new single “Life…is a Fraction VI. Realization” launches into a sophisticated web of lust almost instantly after pressing the play button on the single this spring. There’s nothing to impede the flow of melodic intensity that comes barreling out of the speakers in this piece, and yet we never feel totally at odds with the shadowy element dispensing all of the aural amazement in “Life…is a Fraction VI. Realization.” The energy here is natural, the mood of the music unforced, and despite a lot of tension between the beats is completely catharsis-driven when every other detail is stripped away from the material. Elsewhere has nothing to hide, and they’re showing that in this highly progressive performance without question.  

I would have put more of an emphasis on the importance of the lyrics in this song were there not someone with the kind of multi-expressive singing talents on the other side of my speakers in one Michael Aroian here, but I don’t think they’re entirely a second thought in “Life…is a Fraction VI. Realization.” There’s nothing passive about the tone with which Aroian relays them to the audience, and even though he doesn’t have to do much with his voice to set up the picture for us he’s still making a point of putting as much of his soul into the singing he’s doing in this single as he would anything in the instrumentation or production quality. If it’s all about making full-bodied rock in 2023, this guy is a force to be reckoned with.  

It isn’t often that I give the emphatic endorsement of artistry I’m lending to Elsewhere in the new LP Life…is a Fraction, but then again it isn’t common for tracklists to feel as enamoring as this release does. “Life…is a Fraction VI. Realization” is the record’s signature song and encompasses the aesthetics of the era its creator started to come into real success in, and though I don’t think it’s going to wind up being the last significant title to get Aroian a lot of attention for this project, it’s undeniably got the potential to serve as a bridge between one generation of rockers and another truly in need of alternative music that lives up to the term’s rebellious roots.

The future looks brighter than ever for the profoundly gifted Elsewhere, and if you don’t think so for yourself, I don’t believe you’ve heard the magic of their new single in “Life…is a Fraction VI. Realization” this April. This song is unfiltered prog-rock with one foot happily planted in the past ala Tool and the other reaching so far forward that it’s hard to believe, and between the experimental nature of the track and the swagger it aches with when played by someone like Michael Aroian, I don’t see anyone listening to “Life…is a Fraction VI. Realization” all the way through and not feeling something strong about what they’ve just heard. Elsewhere’s keeping hope alive for curious punkers and pop connoisseurs alike, and while dropping the act’s new release in either camp outright might not make sense, its appeal between the two is hard not to embrace.  

Mindy McCall