There exists an irresistible allure in music that feels as though it is perpetually disintegrating — teetering on the brink of unraveling into unrestrained noise, yet somehow holding itself together through sheer emotional willpower. The Canadian duo known as Black Dresses embodies this paradox of destruction and beauty with a mastery that borders on the transcendent. Their sound operates within a precarious equilibrium where chaos is not an accident but a deliberate and artful design. Every one of their records seems to tremble on the threshold of collapse, threatening at any given instant to dissolve into a torrent of distorted frequencies. Yet, within that menacing instability lies a deeply human intensity that makes their music magnetic. On *Forever in Your Heart*, they push that balance to its most refined form, weaving an intricate and arresting tapestry of textures — glitch-inflicted percussion, ferocious guitar assaults, and disarming pop sensibilities — into something that feels both volatile and strangely elegant.
Composed of Ada Rook and Devi McCallion, Black Dresses transform sonic abrasion into something unexpectedly radiant. From aggressive bursts of metallic percussion and distorted electronic glitches to the rawness of death-metal style screams paired with intentionally off-pitch melodic fragments, the duo crafts a soundscape that shouldn’t be catchy but somehow is. The album’s opening track, “PEACESIGN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!,” erupts from the speakers not with a polite greeting but with unrestrained ferocity. Its central riff stammers and tumbles forward in a way that initially feels chaotic before resolving into a shoegaze-inspired groove that carries an infectious pulse beneath the distortion. When that jagged riff resurfaces, Devi delivers a scream that pierces straight through the sonic haze with the devastating question: “Can we make something beautiful with no hope?” It is both a challenge and a lament, a perfect encapsulation of the album’s emotional architecture.
The vocal intensity that defines their performances reaches its most explosive height on “Silver Bells.” Midway through the track, after a surprisingly melodic interlude supported by synthesizers reminiscent of the industrial melancholy of *Pretty Hate Machine*, Ada’s voice fractures under the weight of emotional strain, producing a series of ragged, pained declarations that seem to blur the line between performance and personal revelation. Her delivery captures exhaustion, fear, and a fragile yearning for softness that has no safe harbor in the world she describes. The tension becomes almost unbearable, and Devi’s audible check-in — a spontaneous moment of concern — introduces a flicker of warmth amid the album’s prevailing bleakness. This moment of levity underscores not only the duo’s chemistry but also the deep authenticity of their creative partnership; it is born from affection, empathy, and perhaps a sincere worry for Ada’s strained vocal cords.
From there, “Silver Bells” transitions into the textured intricacies of “Ragequitted,” a track driven by stuttering rhythms and mid-tempo glitches that pulse like a mechanical heart, before easing into the lo-fi, indie-rock-tinted melancholy of “Waiting42morrow.” These middle acts serve as a momentary breath between storms — a reprieve that allows the listener to process the emotional chaos before being drawn back into the crescendo of “Gone in an Instant,” where Rook’s voice ascends once more into impassioned extremes, pushing the boundaries of what her vocal cords can endure.
Lyrically, *Forever in Your Heart* inhabits a dark emotional territory defined by alienation, insecurity, and self-directed grief. Themes of being forgotten, unseen, or consumed by one’s own reflection recur throughout, as when Rook mourns that no one even recalls her presence in their lives, or when she wishes to be a “faker” so that any hatred would be directed at a false version of herself rather than the truth of who she is. These words could easily feel overwrought or melodramatic in lesser artistic hands, yet here they achieve a haunting sincerity. As trans women navigating a world prone to hostility and misunderstanding, Rook and McCallion confront trauma not through despair alone but through creation — using distortion, noise, and vulnerability as their language of survival. The album’s lyrical depth mirrors their lived complexity: moments of despair coexist with flickers of solace and hope. On “Heaven,” Rook finds a fragile grace, admitting that brokenness itself can hold a quiet kind of perfection: the acknowledgment that every fractured creature is, in its own way, complete. Yet even this admission is tempered by doubt, as she concedes how easily one can lose sight of identity amidst confusion and pain.
This emotional exploration culminates in the album’s closing track, “(Can’t) Keep It Together,” which softens the album’s intensity into something almost resembling a power ballad. As Devi intones the resigned but comforting line that “I couldn’t keep it together, but it’s not that bad,” the record ultimately concludes not in despair but in acceptance — a recognition that imperfection and incompletion can coexist with beauty.
The production throughout *Forever in Your Heart* is meticulous yet intentionally precarious, preserving the illusion that everything could suddenly disintegrate. Every element within the mix feels alive and unpredictable: kick drums detonate with visceral impact even through headphones, while shards of glitchy synthesizers flicker in and out of the auditory field like malfunctioning stars. Guitars appear unexpectedly, sputtering to life, then decaying into silence, adding further to the sense of impending collapse. This deliberate chaos extends beyond the instrumentation and into the composition itself; traditional verse-chorus-verse structures are replaced by fractured, nonlinear movements that feel guided by emotion rather than formula. Though hooks abound, they emerge organically, their brightness made all the more striking against the surrounding distortion.
Ultimately, *Forever in Your Heart* stands as a potent expression of the beauty that can emerge from disorder. It captures that rare alchemy where pain and catharsis coexist, where the act of falling apart becomes its own kind of creation. For those willing to step into the storm — to feel the music not simply as sound but as a raw, living emotion — the album offers a transformative listening experience. *Forever in Your Heart* by Black Dresses is available now on Bandcamp and on all major streaming platforms, including Apple Music, Deezer, YouTube Music, and Spotify, waiting for listeners ready to embrace its beautiful chaos.
Sourse: https://www.theverge.com/entertainment/821782/you-need-to-listen-to-the-searing-noise-pop-album-forever-in-your-heart
