The hidden plot of It’s Only The Future seems to be this: folk-singer girl meets boy, folk-singer girl falls in love with boy, boy and folk-singer girl have a nice little relationship and get married, boy leaves folksinger-girl, folk-singer girl meets up with an electronica wizard and makes a stunningly cold, painfully bleak break-up record. I have zero evidence to back up my theory, but even if it’s not the case, that’s certainly the major themes of each one of the songs on Corrina Repp’s new record. Instead of the folkier moments that made up her last album, I Take On Your Days, this record goes straight for the zero-pulse regions.

If you’ve ever wanted to feel the coldness that comes with a broken heart, then Repp’s done a pretty good job of replicating that feeling quite well. Her lyrics are simple, but they are also very direct and very succinct, making Keith Schreiner’s frigid musical accompaniment downright freezing. Sure, on paper “It’s just a shame/That you don’t find/Any decent heart/That isn’t afraid” (from “S.S. 5000”) or “I put it on you/Because I’m all alone” (from “No One’s Telling”) might not seem that deep, Repp and Schreiner turn it into something more—the obituary of a broken heart. You want to know just how dark Repp’s musical concoctions are? The final song on the record is a cover of the jazz standard “I’ll Be Seeing You.” The original song is a beautiful, touching love song about missing someone, but Repp’s version of the song is much more ominous, sounding more like a threat than a dream.

It’s Only The Future is not an easy listen. It’s morose, it’s dark, it’s sad—and it’s everything that you should feel if you’ve just been betrayed and battered by love. It’s a journey through anger and heartbreak, and it’s not a scenic route.

--Joseph Kyle

Artist Website: http://www.corrinarepp.com
Label Website: http://www.hushrecords.com