Think the difficulty with listening to ACLAM is how stark the arrangements are. Very little to distract from the message, so you're just left staring at his grief. Feels voyeuristic, and like any enjoyment of the craft would be some sort of blasphemy. There's no catharsis there, just an unbroken band of desolation.

Which is why I like "Carrie and Lowell". Much the same message, but just embellished enough that you can kind of forget the content for the style. And boy howdy can he write a song.

My favorite cathartic songs change over time. Younger me needed grand gestures to foster emotional release. Some Radiohead the-robots-are-coming-to-get-us shit. Now I value the quieter stuff. Been listening to "Benji" nearly every day now since... when did it come out? I hope someday to write a song as perfect as "Carissa," but I hope I never have a reason to write a song as perfect as "Carissa".

Also, I used to think anything by Bach was stiff and soulless. Now I'm starting to think that guy saw angels in the architecture better than any other human. Get the feeling that if I knew math and music theory better, listening to his work would be like looking into the eyes of God.

Speaking of Angels in the architecture, I listened to Graceland the other day for the first time in over a year and goddamn, that album never loses its shine. Can really pull you out of bad places, in part by recognizing the beauty of bad places. So I guess grand gestures still do it for me sometimes.