Slovakian outsider artist Nicholas Wintzler presents us with yet another experimental and extremely personal album titled Holuby v mláke which roughly translates to Pigeons in the Puddle in English. This is a rather interesting album with a very personal story behind it, which Wintzler generously shared with me. Over the course of six months, Wintzler locked him self away, drowning his sorrows in booze and weed and recorded almost 120 tracks. Thankfully, pushing through that tragic state and using that dark time to produce art that almost reflects that very state of mind. While the album is very abstract, there are moments on there that shine through and help give you a peek into this unique artist’s perspective.
Trying to put this album into words is rather challenging. While the first track, which is the title track, presents this somber and rather sad guitar melody with a subtle keyboard being played in the background and Wintzler’s hoarse yet charming voice whispering out the lyrics. There are a handful of other tracks on the album that sort of follow the same pattern. Somber song writing, with charming yet raw lyrics, and a straight forward production, with probably very little editing after the fact. But its after that track when things start to get rather strange. Like the third track Zbierame cibuľu roughly translating to ‘Collecting Onion’ where the idea of ‘music’ starts to break down and it becomes much more abstract. Erratic strumming of his acoustic guitar, and a drunkenly slurred lyrics slither out and leave you feeling gross and some what uncomfortable. There are plenty of other tracks that follow the same pattern, and the way the album is structured makes it seem like every other song would be a ‘listenable’ track with the more abstract parts thrown in between.
Personally, I feel like tracks like the one I mentioned previously or the fifth track, Kašel which roughly translates to Cough where it sounds like Wintzler is simply crying over the mic, really gives you a front row look into the mindset he had at the time while recording. I also feel like, much like Wintzler’s physical art, where its equally as abstract and emotionally raw, his music really does follow suit. It’s not pretty, but art isn’t always supposed to be pretty. Especially when dealing with very personal struggles. I also feel like the album could easily be shaved down with not needing all eighteen tracks. Even though they all have rather short running times, with the longest just being over four minutes, there’s no doubting that a lot of this could’ve been left on the cutting board. There’s a lot in this album that shines, and Wintzler’s creativity really shines through on a lot of the tracks, but you have to be willing to bare through the emotional struggles much like he did. The whole album, I feel is more of a performative art piece rather than a traditional album.
Thankfully, he’s in a much better place now, and to Wintzler this album is the final period in his dark time. A monument of what once was, and to never go back to ever again. Its very evident that a lot of very heavy emotions were poured into this album, and I for one really enjoyed the whole experience. Maybe ‘enjoy’ is a rather positive word for listening to someone go through such emotional struggles, but it’s nice to see that we all have our struggles and they can be expressed and over come in rather beautiful ways like this album. This won’t be for everyone, but those who are willing to go off the deep end and experiment with their own musical journey, this album would be it. Take the time to give this album a deep listen in a quiet and reflective setting.
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