Music / Carousel (An Examination of the Shadow, Creekflow...)

"Is this all you've ever wanted? It's me, it's me, your shadow!"

Carousel (An Examination of the Shadow, Creekflow, and its Life as an Afterthought) is a Concept Album released by Vylet Pony on February 3, 2023.

The album centers around pegasus musician Vylet as she visits the Ponyville fair, encountering a magical carousel that introduces her to the physical incarnation of her shadow.

The album can be purchased on Bandcamp. as well as streamed on Spotify or Vylet's YouTube channel.

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Tracklist:

1. "Let's Fly to the Castle!" (3:21)
2. "Pony Rock!" (feat. GalaxySquid and NekoSnicker) (4:39)
3. "Constellation Cradle" (6:05)
4. "How to Talk to Your Shadow?" (feat. AstroEden) (1:39)
5. "Brohoof" (3:56)
6. "Bass Cannon" (feat. Jesse Nowack) (5:04)
7. "Crush Kill Destroy Swag" (6:22)
8. "The Carrion Child" (feat. CalamariSpider) (5:34)
9. "Hush!" (8:14)
10. "Examining the Afterthought" (3:00)
11. "Flair for the Dramatic" (5:08)
12. "Carousel" (feat. Namii) (6:35)
13. "Futura" (4:30)
14. "Creekflow" (4:11)

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Awaiting you in this very hall are the tropes of all tropes:

• Album Title Drop: Aside from the Title Track, there's also this line on "How to Talk to Your Shadow?":
  Because you're riding the carousel!
• All There in the Manual: While you can draw general conclusions about the story from just the lyrics, the album's descriptions on Bandcamp and YouTube fully lay out the picture.
• Ambiguous Situation: According to Vylet Pony on Twitter, the album can be about a variety of things, with the only two she outright debunks are it being about multiplicity or literal death.
• Amusement Park of Doom: The aesthetic of the album is themed around fair rides, with something eerie just under the surface.
• Big Rock Ending: The climax of "Flair for the Dramatic" ramps up into loud, fittingly dramatic instrumentation and drawn out vocals.
• Broken Record:
  • "Constellation Cradle":
    When you're playing, playing with stars
    When you're playing, playing with stars
    When you're playing, playing with stars
    When you're playing with stars
  • "Creekflow":
    When will I break?
    When will I break?
    When will I finally break?
    When will I finally break?
• Concept Album: The album tells the story of Vylet encountering a magical carousel that allows her to speak with her shadow.
• Cosmic Motifs: This is a core element of the track "Constellation Cradle", especially the repeating hook line:
  When you're playing, playing with stars!
• Darker and Edgier: When compared to the album that preceded it, can opener's notebook: fish whisperer, which is a lot more light-hearted in both tone and subject matter, Carousel is brooding and introspective.
• Epic Rocking: Several of the songs clock in at over 6 minutes, but the 8-minute long "Hush!" is easily the standout. It also starts with a full-out "The Reason You Suck" Speech in the form of a slam poem overlaid on top of harsh electronic drawls before morphing into chill ambience and hard rock.
• Fake Radio Show Album: The end of "How to Talk to Your Shadow?" has a radio host for the fictional station 32.7 The Creek announcing the next track:
  From the heart of Ponyville
  Spinning our next track
  The one and only DJ Pon3!
  Let's spin this shit!
• Genre Mashup: While mixing and matching genres is one of Vylet Pony's defining stylistic elements, this album focuses primarily on fusing aspects of the harsher genres of electronic music with progressive rock and ambient.
• Hearing Voices: The titular carousel allows Vylet to speak to Creekflow, her literal Shadow Archetype.
• Incredibly Long Note: The "murdereeeeeeeeeer!" in "The Carrion Child".
• Living Memory: Creekflow is implied to be such over the course of the album, especially in its introduction in "How to Talk to Your Shadow?":
  Announcer: Your memories serve more than fond keepsakes!
• Living Shadow: Creekflow is this, being Vylet's literal shadow that can communicate with her.
• Meaningful Name: "Constellation Cradle" refers to the Internet, in reference to online fame — where stars are born, a cradle for newborn constellations.
• Metal Scream: Vylet lets out quite a few in "The Carrion Child", such as the climactic "MURDEREEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRR!!!"
• Mood Whiplash: "Brohoof" is basically mood whiplash, the song. Just look at these lyrics:
  Nightmares, apparitions, every thought that I fear
  The spring in my stride
  'Cause the good times are here!
• Motor Mouth: The intro to "Hush!" is a wordy slam poem delivered at a breakneck pace.
• Murder Ballad: How literal the murder in "The Carrion Child" is is left unclear, but the imagery is extremely strong regardless:
  Your glass is overflowing in the slaughter
  Have you no remorse?
• One-Word Title: Quite a few — "Brohoof", "Hush!", "Carousel", "Futura" and "Creekflow".
• Precision F-Strike: In "Hush!", these two lines deliver a particularly cutting one to Vylet:
  Are you fucking happy?
  Why are you fucking smiling?
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: The intro to "Hush!" is one from Creekflow to Vylet that takes the form of a slam poem.
  The whore's found a new position, the old angler reels a new technique
  A bravest strike to the easel covers red the walls of a finely furnished home
  Teaching a new dog new tricks!
  Count to four, it's been done before, say it with your own voice
  What are you afraid of?
• Rock Star Song: "Constellation Cradle" seems to be one, with the added bonus of taking the "star" part literally.
  Constellation cradle
  Carry, coddle, label
  Live your life a superstar
  Live your life a fable
• Shadow Archetype: A literal one in the form of Vylet's shadow being given sentience, who seems to point out all the little aspects of Vylet that she doesn't like.
• Short Title: Long, Elaborate Subtitle: Carousel (An Examination of the Shadow, Creekflow, and its Life as an Afterthought), so long it needed to be shortened in the namespace.
• Spoken Word in Music:
  • The skit-like intermission "How to Talk to Your Shadow?" is entirely spoken word.
  • "Hush!" introduces itself with rapid-fire slam poetry.
• Title Track: "Carousel".

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Put your hooves together, because you're riding the carousel, and listening to 32.7 The Creek!