Odonian Drifts (also known as Lain Rowley) is a musician hailing from Nottingham, United Kingdom. Other than being a musician, Lain is a published poet and an academic. He’s set to release his debut album, “Earwitness on Trial,” in the summer of 2022 and has released a single called “X-sufflation” in the spring. According to Lain, “The seeds of “X-sufflation” were sown during the early phase of the pandemic, & grew into an effort to capture the sorrow, confusion & vexation wrought by a planetary convulsion that seemed to strike at the core of one’s solitude.”
Upon hearing X-sufflation myself the first time around, I didn’t understand the lyrics very well, and felt like it was anticlimactic. The vocals are not very clear over the sound of the melody, and there’s no clear distinction between the verse, chorus, or bridge. The second time around, I really started warming up to it. It’s an acquired taste. I liked the mellow feeling embodied through the song and how it bends the boundary between Dark Wave and Folk Music. The music seems like something out of The Hobbit, with its mystical vibes and folk undertones. The artwork for the song also captures the feelings of solitude that are conveyed throughout the whole song. All in all, I liked the song, though Odonian drifts might not be for everyone, but you can still appreciate meaningful music even if you don’t necessarily like the genre.
