#33 Backxwash: HIS HAPPINESS SHALL COME FIRST EVEN THOUGH WE ARE SUFFERING

They’ll pay respects in the fire and brim,

Elijah and kin the violent things

Jesus will need to annihilate me

The Jesuits will sing from the highest of peaks

Beezlebub brought to his knees

Asmodeus, gon leap from the tallest of trees

Satan won’t feel so forsaken

Now that the lord has awoken and brought all his grace in

ZIGOLO

Ouch! Feel that? Oooh! There it is again. Bit of a stinging… ah! Bit of a stinging pain, no? Well… hang on, here comes another one: ouch! Well that, ma dudes, are the sharp throbs from this album going so fucking hard.

Well, what did you expect? It’s fucking Backxwash. I’m sorry, were you looking for some inoffensive muzak to play in the background at your latest ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ style upper class orgy? Firstly, you should never play inoffensive muzak at those events, your clientele are largely ruling class leeches looking to live out their furry fantasies to take their mind off the millions of victims that the current gross power structure they benefit from. You don’t think they might be a little shy if it’s their first time? Play something to lighten the mood, ease the conversation a bit, loosen people up. I’d personally recommend Adam Sandler’s ‘They’re All Gonna Laugh at You’. Food Innuendo Guy?? Guaranteed to start a conversation.

Even if you’re aware of Backxw… God, I’m sorry, Adam Sandler is just awful, isn’t he? Sorry. Focus, Alex, focus:

Even if you’re aware of Backxwash and know her work well, it’s likely that the third and final album in her recent trilogy will still paralyse your nervous system. Operating heavy machinery?? Fuggedaboudit! The general consensus with trilogies is that the first one introduces the characters and contains a generally straight forward and self contained plot; then the second gets a whole lot darker and leaves our heroes in a sticky situation by the end; then the third finally sees the great, victorious denouement, where the big bad is defeated and our heroes live happily ever after, realising that the real heroes journey was the friends they made along the way. There are often Ewoks involved, as is my understanding. Backxwash flips this script by having her debut album – 2020’s ‘God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It‘- already be the really dark one that the second entry couldn’t possibly be darker than and… Oh wait! 2021’s ‘I LIE HERE BURIED WITH MY RINGS AND MY DRESSES‘ still manages to be even darker! So that trope is recognised at least.

“I confess, I’m a mess, I’m a dog, I’m a pest, I need help, I’m possessed, I need sess, I need sess”

So here’s how Backxwash’s trilogy would work: We still have Luke Skywalker, of course, but instead of being some magical farm boy, or whatever, they are a black trans women. And the first episode of the trilogy isn’t about them defeating Emporer Death Wookie, or whatever, but chronicles the mental struggles and traumas associated with trying to live within their identity and as their true self within the overwhelmingly white city of Tatooine. The genius of Backxwash’s trilogy, is that the next episode takes us back in time. We hear of how Luke first came to Tatooine from their native Zygerria at just seventeen years old. It documents more how they struggled with such a culture shock and with childhood ordeals from back in Zygerria, how Luke was forced to recalibrate their entire life through this new lens while at the same time trying to work out who they actually were as a person. Such struggles lead Luke to namana addiction, until after many years of soul searching and treatment lead to the realisation that Luke was a woman. While shape-shifting, Luke realised how skilled they were on the f’nonc horn and what valuable therapy music could be.

Now, we’re in the concluding saga, so everything gets wrapped up nicely, yeah? Ha! No!

We go back in time again, to Luke’s childhood on Zygerria, and the trilogy actually concludes with us learning first hand of all that childhood trauma that would prove so significant in their later life. We get to see how such a deeply religious Ninn Orthodox upbringing instilled deep self-loathing within them and ensured a lifelong sense of guilt at not just falling into the hereronormative status quo. How they “can’t fix a problem that’s rooted in the imperfection of my existence“. Would Luke’s parents ever accept them? Would Luke’s God ever accept them? Would they even let him become one with the force? Yeah, there are Ewoks, but they’re not nice people, trust me.

It’s an astonishing piece of work. The whole trilogy I believe stands up against any artistic endeavor of the 21st century. Is it for everyone? Fuck no! And it was never designed that way. Also, that trilogy? Three albums? All featured on Necessary Evil? Welcome in, Backxwash, welcome in:

BandCamp

2021 #19

2020 #36

2 thoughts on “#33 Backxwash: HIS HAPPINESS SHALL COME FIRST EVEN THOUGH WE ARE SUFFERING

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