If you want to distract your mind with an easy-listening bop, you shouldn’t be here or read this article. Yet, if you feel even a smidgen of curiosity towards what can only be described as an obscure, challenging and truly meaningful piece, then we recommend you stick around. ‘IRV! (The Symphony of The Shadow Self)’ is an unconventional record, so much so that it enters the pompous realm of modern and performance art. Moving on the fringe and exploring where no artist has seemingly set foot before, JESUS THE APOLLO champions a highly philosophical and meditative ethos, contrasting crepuscular lyricism with avant-garde electronica and leftfield sound design.
The listening experience is certainly striking and memorable, with the Manchester-based creative layering fragments of theatrical spoken words over aleatory production, all packed with coarse noises and quirky broken beats. There’s a constant allure of intensity and otherworldly wisdom, a nagging feeling of being a witness to something extraordinary. Peculiar, but extraordinary.
From a writing standpoint, JESUS THE APOLLO is influenced by the concept of ‘shadow’, especially drawing from classical music. Delving deeper into the complex and introspective philosophy behind the song, the visionary artist explains: “IRV is a metaphor and entity that represents the shadow, lower realms of existence and the universe. This is needed to balance out the lower, middle and upper realms in Buddhist philosophy and merits; IRV is exactly that. With the lower realm of the universe being significant to our being, our thoughts are in a more balanced but shadowy nuanced view.”
Recommended! Discover ‘IRV! (The Symphony of The Shadow Self)’ now: