Album review: Long Time Coming

EVERYTHING OUTWARD
by
Sonic Distance
(Connor Parent)

Detroit rocker Connor Parent, under his artist name “Sonic Distance,” has finally done it. After eight long years in production, the debut album “Everything Outward” is finally released. The album itself pulls influence from 90s rockers like Pearl Jam and more bluesy 60s acts like The Doors. This alternative rock album containing 15 songs, including the previously released 7 singles, tells a full story of the contemplative, mood-swinging nature of early adulthood.

Connor’s musical journey began in early 2017 when he picked up an old guitar laying around his house, never putting it back down. By late summer of 2017, he was already performing at local open mics to gain a name for himself and his original songs. Connor finally donned the name “Sonic Distance” in 2020 when the time came to release his first single “Euro.” Ideas were being passed around by his family, his Mom suggesting “Social Distance” as a representation of that time period, his Dad then chiming in with “Sonic Distance,” and Connor said “Good enough.”

“This album wasn’t written over night. It was written over the course of 6-7 years, from the ages of 14 to about 20. Our minds change A LOT in that time frame. We have ups and downs, explosions and implosions. That’s really just our human nature, and I feel this album captures that perfectly.”

With adolescent, anger-fueled straight rockers like “Nine-Volt,” “Domestic Gathering,” and “Euro” sure to get your fist pumping in air, the album also has its fair share of a more loose rock sound in songs like “Avenue,” “Jet Lag,” and “Hoarders,” a lyrically almost self-parodical track about decluttering one’s house.

The album also has its dark corners, tackling more intrapersonal and uncertain topics in songs like “Drain”, “Fire Trail,” and the supposed unpolished magnum-opus of the album “The Commutation of the Belicoso.” The album also takes a few detours down a more reflective path, touching on issues like previously soured relationships, coming from a less aggressive light, but a more somber and uneasy light with songs like “Stranger Man,” as well as the title track “Everything Outward,” which brings a nice conclusion to the questions, angst, and uncertainties posed throughout the album. The final line of the album Everything Outward, “within your mind” is a direct answer to the personal uncertainties posed throughout the album’s runtime, reassuring the listener that one’s perception is a matter of one’s interpretation and can be controlled with willpower.

“It’s a really strange feeling that I began working on this when I was 14 and still in Middle School . . . and I just graduated college, and it’s finally time to share it with the world.”

The album was recorded in a multitude of places, utilizing local professional studio Ozone Music and Sound, with producer Marty Peters mixing and mastering each track. A good amount of the album was also recorded in Connor’s home studio, coined “The Yellow Basement,” which many livestream concerts have been hosted from.

“I don’t want to reveal what was recorded in studio versus what was recorded literally on my basement floor!” (Connor)

Clocking in at just over an hour long, “Everything Outward” is an intuitive rock piece that beautifully hands down the rock and roll alma-mater to a new generation of musicians, while paying subtle homage to the ones that came before. The album has plenty of variety and different corners to explore, giving a broader appeal to alternative rock fans, young and old, to dive into.

Links:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/3Mg6ZUMrvd7Qs8FWVMifS5?si=bo5XjH4QTL-bbV-Cxu3cuQ

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/everything-outward/1802671994

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@sonicdistancemusic

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sonicdistancemusic

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/16m7mwvyXk/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sonic.distance.music?_t=ZP-8wpdbI8uTl9&_r=1