We’ve Already Happened is the debut album of collaborative project Paultra Violet. Made up of actor Joey Palestina, composer and Space Fight member Spencer Miles and Y God Y’s Joel Hunter Martin, the trio’s debut explores the complexities of our era.
By Graeme Smith
Paultra Violet describe their debut as a “digital-age symphony” reflecting on the endless choice of our age, our transient connections and insatiable hunger for more. I’m not sure they could have captured our modern world anxieties more exactly, delivering the emotion abstractly across ten tracks of tech-noir, post-punk and cold wave.
The album opens with I Will Find Your Heart, a vibrantly low-key techno number that combines looping melodies, percussion and soulful vocals. Paultra Violet show themselves to be masters of atmosphere straight away on this album. We are instantly transferred to a dark, uneasy yet oddly hopeful world in its opener.
I Left You In Russia brings with it brooding synth and sinister, whispered vocals. There’s a touch of witch house about it, as well as something a little more ’80s retro. It’s an intriguing sonic combination. Year of Sweat is slow and wistful while title track We’ve Already Happened provides an early highlight with its dreamy synths, disco beat, funky bass and visceral lyrics.
Glow Up Wolf is eerily experimental and quietly seethes with poetic, storytelling lyrics. Fugazzi Horoscope shows us a softer side of Paultra Violet without losing any lyrical bite. Honestly I Always Knew opens ambient before exploding into urgent life. It’s another highlight.
Val Or Never brings with it a sax-infused soundscape before giving way to some driving bass and exotic percussion. Flirt Machine Effect bristles with strings and a hip-hop beat before Here’s To You closes the album with a slow-building arrangement that’s equal parts light and dark.
I say this as little as possible, but in this case it’s unavoidable. We’ve Already Happened is a strong contender for album of the year for me. Its ten tracks are brimming with life while keeping things very much real in an increasingly digital world. Its title track made me dance uncontrollably while Honestly I Always Knew gave me goosebumps. Paultra Violet’s debut is sublime and you can check it out below.