Tuesday X - Essential

Tuesday X

Essential
​self-released; 2020

3.7 out of 5

By Jamie Funk

Essential is the latest from Tuesday X. The artist is prolific. He has released six albums, multiple EP’s and more. Essential is prolific as well and contains seventeen songs and the best release yet from the artist. The music to me very much sounds like a DIY production. I have been an engineer and writing about music for too long not to pick up on these things.

The songs on the album are mostly rock oriented and not exactly what I call bedroom productions in terms of what he is trying to accomplish. A lot of the songs reminded me of ’90s alternative and grunge in some ways.

Amongst the batch of songs I thought there were some standouts. The album starts off strong with the warm and serene “Jet Fuel Can't Melt Steel Beams.” It is somewhere in the vicinity of early AIR and had an atmospheric quality created by the synths.

“The Only Difference Between You and Me is a Sense of Apathy and Your Brand New Nikes” starts off great and I loved the groove. The lo-fi recording quality did begin to buckle when the distorted guitars came in. “Polaroids on My Bulletin Board” had its moments and I was wondering if the out of tune guitar was intentional or not. Either way it becomes a non factor when the chorus hits.

The slight vertigo inducing “Then Why Was it Named Gideon?” was great and I enjoyed the more shoegaze vibe on this song. I also thought the song contained some of his best vocal melodies. The other two songs I enjoyed were “Minneapolis” and “Before the Sunrise” which is arguably the highlight on the whole album. There are some great vocal melodies on “Before the Sunrise” along with a more Pink Floyd approach to the music. I hope to hear more like this in the future.

​This is an eclectic album and it felt more like a mixtape in a lot of ways. It seemed a collection of songs rather than something where the sequence was of great importance. On that note I think there is a lot to appreciate from a broad audience. Take a listen.

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