On his first full-length album, the artist features some of the underground’s most prolific producers for his meticulously detailed project.
Confrontation can be uncomfortable. Letting unresolved issues linger only makes them easier to box up in the back of our mental closets. Being open to closure, however, requires a deep inner courage fueled by desire for change and longing for evolution. Jaxxon D. Silva captures such bittersweet melancholy in Open to Closure, his second project since his October 2017 release of POOR THING.
Stemming from the UK underground via Laigon Life, Jaxxon’s music is a broad blend of punk, hip-hop, and alt-rock. Open to Closure serves a comely platter of each, tinted mostly by grungy sheen and refined grit. Described as “the soundtrack to a broken mirror,” it shatters pre-conceived reflections of a sane mind.
Produced by Lederrick “There’s No Antidote for Love” was the album’s single which had an accompanying music video. The raw instrumental and rural beat enticed listeners to lean in more, eager for what the rest of the album could unfold. We’re warned on the album’s first track “Escape Claws” (prod. Skys), to “never ever pet a scapegoat.” For the first track to lay out the appeal of the exit is the exact incongruity Jaxxon leans into; flirting with death in “Do What You Did” (prod. D33J) leading to post-wreckage inner dialogue in “Me & My Mind” (prod. Karman) featuring Steven Moses.
Lederrick comes back with Holt Stairs on “Habitual Rituals,” producing a cruise-along flick to the achingly real words of an addict. “Hell of a Heart,” featuring Bakar and produced by MISOGI, is a syrupy back-and-forth between the head and the heart. “Dead End” (prod. Slight), the penultimate track, dives headfirst into the inevitability of death to justify living antics. Charlie Shuffler and Lederrick wrap up with “I Think I’m Sick.” To put it succinctly, “but nothing even matters, so that’s that.”
Open to Closure’s curation is clean and intricate. It’s clear this project is a sophomore work, aged with personal growth by acuteness of presentation. Paradoxical themes are the just the beginnings of an end to justify some means. This project, like a lot of Jaxxon D. Silva’s music, are for those on the fence of the veracity of reality. Listen to Open to Closer and the rest of Jaxxon’s complex discography here.