Buzz on June 17th, 2013

0

Two years ago Baths, the nom de tune of the San Fernando Valley’s Will Wiesenfeld, was busy being showered with praise for his debut album “Cerulean,” conceived and created in his Chatsworth home. Fresh off a year-long tour, he returned ready to begin the process of creating his full-length sophomore effort, when the young composer’s body betrayed him. The second LP from Baths, titled “Obsidian” arrived May 28 and is heavily influenced by Wiesenfeld’s horrifying battle with an E. Coli virus powerful enough to leave him incapacitated for months, void of any creative energy. With vivid memories of a bedridden existence Wiesenfeld traffics in his own personal angst on “Obsidian.” Regaining the strength to function, but not the energy to sugarcoat, Wiesenfeld uses graphic, heart-wrenching lyrics to acknowledge the torture of cancerous relationships, the self-loathing that comes with sexual insecurity, and the vulnerability of presenting your true self to another person. Though undeniably dark, given the backdrop of a young man fighting for his capacity to create and ultimately winning, “Obsidian” is a cathartic recounting of life altering experiences that moves fluidly between haunting and healing.

||| Stream: “Ironworks” and “Miasma Sky”

||| Live: Baths performs June 28 at the El Rey Theatre.