A predictably brilliant smorgasbord of sound and ideas is wrapped tightly and succinctly in this release

What do you make when you can make anything? That is the question that Fire-Toolz answers. Angel Marcloid, the multi-instrumentalist behind the project, employs a dizzying range of genres and styles into every Fire-Toolz release like the lifeforce of the project depends on it.

The latest release, I will not use the body's eyes today. is no different, unsurprisingly. Soda Lake With Game Genie, sounds as if some preternatural force outside of the realms of time or physical reality has sent a Christopher Cross instrumental careening through a bright, multicoloured landscape with geometric shapes appearing across an endless horizon. New age, soft rock, pop punk, prog and electronic all congeal together as the track jumps from one airborne platform to the next with an unquenchable positivity. There is no ceiling or limitation, nothing that could bring Marcloid into a downstroke as energy and joy are produced in an endless supply, even when employing a searing screaming vocal line. Perfectly placed saxophone rides atop this energy, waving in a beautifully sweet guitar line to take the listener into the eternal sunlight. The familiar notions of bombastic chemical experimentation are present in lyrics like ‘Do you know your skeleton? I’m oozing spiky gelatin’. A wide range of scientific and spiritual subjects are often employed as inspiration for Fire-Toolz work. 

With more than a firm footing in the sonic realm, Marcloid is able to manipulate just about any sort of sound, fashioning building blocks to aid in experimental music exploration. On Vedic Software ~ Wet Interfacing bubbly synths and pads scuttle around, nodding towards a post-millennium, internet-based optimism that is then sideswiped by sharp industrial spikes and razor-sharp vocals. The moment is engineered to floor the listener as the crisp underlying instrumentation tries desperately to ground everything sturdily as harsher aspects smash and fracture any semblance of peace. The lyrics, however, do speak to a meditative mood at points, lines like ‘I’m thinking inside the one thought’ and ‘Powerless I connect in the dark’ gesturing to the artist’s fondness for mindfulness and spiritual awakening. Towards the end, the track pretty much breaks itself apart, even funk chords start splurting out where they are not expected at all, there is heartbreaking piano as well. Still, Marcloid drags this swelling collection of sounds, references and signs towards a conclusion somehow. A panoply of impossible sounds is laid out and the listener is asked to make sense of them.

A panoply of impossible sounds is laid out and the listener is asked to make sense of them.

Long-time fans of Fire-Toolz output will recognise and celebrate this sporadicism and unpredictability, as it is laid out – on this EP specifically – very coherently. The veterans know not to trust a tranquil sound for too long. Elegant piano is spawned from noxious feedback on Air For Breakfast: She Is Safe & So Am I, it seems unwaveringly peaceful. Though, after a few minutes, this bliss is coopted by the insurgent warping noises that plagued it since its start. A Moon In The Morning is somewhat unique in this sense, as we find Marcloid’s vocals writhing about in a rich, putrid noise excursion that does not career off-course and shoots for a menacing snarling style. Vocals snipe at the listener sounding as if they are leaking from a walkie-talkie floating in space. 

The brilliance of Fire-Toolz music owes a great deal to the fact that the musician behind it truly finds solace in the musical world. It is a world where one can be any shape, form or at any stage of existence they choose, where one can make-believe about themselves and the world around them, and where one can wrestle with concepts that are complex and unwieldy. These are the deep-seated and often elusive truths about musical exploration that are brought to light on this latest Fire-Toolz EP.