This post is syndicated from Indie Shuffle.
Sounds like: Beirut, Fredrik, Perfume Genius
What’s so good?
Suicide Prevention Hotline is a deeply moving EP from a young artist who has been through hell and back very early on in his career. After experiencing a rough patch during a financial dispute with his former record label, he went into a downward spiral that led to a struggle with substance abuse, an eating disorder, and suicidal contemplations that eventually took him to a mental institution.
Bethancourt has channelled this story into his latest body of work — a collection of deeply personal songs that exhilarate and provoke as he dives deep into an emotional state while remaining confident and close to the ear of the listener. We’re allowed entry to his world and experience what it means to be down and out — in the deep recesses of questioning everything we know, who we are, and who we’d like to be.
Hailing from New Mexico, the name Alaska In Winter is derived from a time when he spent half a year in Alaska recording remotely in a cabin. The result was his debut album Dance Party in the Balkans released in 2007 to critical acclaim and featuring vocals from a young Zach Condon (Beirut).
Since then, he’s gone on to release several singles, 2008′s full-length Holiday, and a limited-edition cassette-only release called Space Eagle [the motion picture soundtrack].
And now, Suicide Prevention Hotline. The featured track “Demons” is both sublime and cathartic, venturing into his signature polish that gently steers us in a direction that demonstrates how art is not only vulnerable, but absolutely true.