Written by Cameron Wyatt
We know by this point to expect the unexpected from Quadeca, with albums like ‘I Didn’t Mean To Haunt You’ and ‘Vanisher, Horizon Scraper’ putting forward wonderful storytelling & lyricism over experimental production. In the buildup to newly-released album, Life 1, the singles indicated that Quadeca would deliver something completely new to what we’d heard before, with tracks like Hell of a Time, Dark Magic & Baby Steps all offering their own individual qualities. There’s also been hints that this could very well be the final album under the stage name Quadeca, and the album definitely has the feeling of a ‘goodbye’ to what he’d consider as Life 1, and the potential to move on and begin a new ‘life’. Whether that ends up being under a new alias or not.
Taking this into account, we were super eager to unwrap the theme & story behind the album. Quadeca consistently delivers amazing storytelling throughout his projects, like the story of the sailor in Vanisher, and the perspective from the afterlife in IDMTHY. Throughout the rollout, fans have naturally been putting forward multiple theories behind what the album could be based on, and what the meaning behind it could be. And whilst the LA artist did say after Vanisher that he was done with concept albums for a while, the singles indicated that the project could be exploring the impermanence of life, the experiences one has when navigating how to grow up, as well as what could only be described as the absurdity of life. Potentially through an examination of his own existence, rather than as a character like his previous projects. These themes continue into the album, seeming to look at past relationships, memories and experiences thus far.
After dropping the opening track, Life 1 (where did the time go), Quadeca admitted on X, in a now deleted post, that the track may not have been the most natural choice for a single. But having said that, it gives just enough insight into the album to leave fans intrigued, and it’s done just that. The track delves straight into looking back on how life has changed, how fast everything moves, and how this life has just passed by. Listening to the album in full, it sets up the remainder perfectly, and you can see the theme of impermanence continue, like in the penultimate track, Good grief. The song comes across exactly how it sounds – grieving a loss. It dwells on how much and how fast things have changed, and he’s allowing himself to let go of what it once was.
Whether this track is alluding to an actual relationship, or something entirely different, like a particular era of his life or negative feelings he’s been holding onto, is arguably up to the listener to decide. From a musical standpoint, the track highlights the diversity of Quadecas art, in both his production and his vocals. Starting as a soft-spoken, reflective song, and gradually evolving into a powerful, obnoxious crescendo, the track perfectly represents the changing emotions that you have to deal with as you’re dealing with loss, whatever that may be.
The production of this album is a major standout when listening to it. The pure variety of musical and instrumental choices Quadeca has mastered in his time as an artist shine through in this project, with every track offering something new. One that stands out for this is Like you always do. There’s a beautiful mix of instrumentation throughout the track, layered behind dreamy harmonisation and vocals. The mix of production used allows the album to flow so smoothly, and it comes together in a way that allows the listener to enjoy every aspect of what they’re listening to, whilst being able to find yourself relating to the lyrics through the many metaphors placed throughout.
As mentioned before, the project seems to cover all aspects of one’s life and the experiences people go through as they grow and move on from different phases and eras of their life. Relationships is another subject area throughout, with tracks like Hell of a Time and Make you my what diving into feelings of love or nostalgia coming from different angles, and different stages in life. The former seems to look back on a past relationship in a bittersweet sense, whilst potentially being a metaphor for the era of ‘Quadeca’ that he’s moving on from, and coming to terms with the difficulties and anxiety he faces from doing so. The latter, on the other hand, includes a beautiful feature from kmoe, and gives us arguably the happiest and most loving track of the album. This distinction and difference in the feel of the songs, whilst both centering around love, on surface level, once again represents changing emotions as time goes on.
The way Quadeca presents these lyrical choices gives us a real insight into the experiences he’s faced, and how he looks at how his life has gone. Illusion of Choice is arguably one of the most beautiful, impactful and deeply personal songs in his discography, both musically and lyrically. The track seems to allude to the feelings that come with suicidal thoughts, and feeling like you don’t have the control to choose how your life goes. The track is our highlight of the album, and gives such a deep insight into the anxiety that comes with these feelings and how difficult it is to cope when going through them, having to carry on in all aspects of life, whether that’s in relationships, family, or even when interacting with fans. You can hear how difficult it is to talk about through his delivery, with the track ending with:
“I’ll probably hear this in the morning, put that in the vault / but I would rather say it now than not say it at all / I would rather live it now than not live it at all.”
An experience that so many can relate to, Quadeca captures the feeling in such a beautiful, yet tragic way, and that’s why it is our standout track of the album. There’s a sense of constant chaos in the background, both in the buildup instrumentation and the drumming patterns throughout, which act as an imperfect representation of what he’s describing.
The album’s final track In another life… pulls everything together in a really solid way. It wraps up all of the memories, experiences and struggles he has been singing about throughout the project, and in the theme of the album, brings an end to ‘Life 1’, looking back at his relationships and experiences, and vowing to come back in whatever form he is re-incarnated as. As we mentioned earlier, we knew to expect the unexpected from this album, and that’s exactly what we got. A beautiful story of life and both the happiness and struggles that come from it, Life 1 is ultimately Quadeca’s most personal and direct album we’ve had so far, whilst also exemplifying the growth he’s been through as an artist and as a human being. I’m not going to compare this to his previous projects, as they are all amazing in their own right, but this album has a very strong case for being one of the albums of the year. Watching how much Quadeca has developed his skillset as an artist already at such a young age has us all the more excited for what’s still to come. He told us that he’d undersold this album in the buildup, and he did just that.
