Local Review: Cody Hsu — snow day

Cody Hsu
snow day
Self-Released
Street: 04.21.2023
Cody Hsu = Dolent + Youth Lagoon

Yet again, Utah music listeners find themselves expecting the encroaching display of fall and inevitable drop of winter, yearning with a soul-crunching emptiness to break out their moodiest albums to help beckon in the sickening, 5 p.m. darkness wave. Cody Hsu has provided a tracklist that aligns itself well with this inherent desire to hunker down and watch the snow collapse around us. Likely found on the most optimal slowcore playlist made by your most depressed friend, snow day is the perfect soundscape to cauterize your feelings within the purgatory of your bedroom.

Brandished with sleepy guitar loops and muffled vocal harmonies, Hsu’s introductory track “close the door” sets the album’s tone as one akin to the poetic, glossy-eyed feel of Flatsound’s Sleep. The disarming sound of birds chirping lulls listeners into the track’s hypnotic beat, the lyrics echoing, “Please forgive me / I am not there / Close the door / Cause I am not there.” This feels like something I would mumble to no one but my ceiling at 2 a.m. when the evening routine of self-doubt and regret hits like a train. Though the lyrics are simple, they hold a weight that refuses to release or be fully acknowledged, which I had found myself listening to again and again. I thought I had moved on from the tonally-deficient, sad boy lyricism of my Tumblr days, but “close the door” — while sonically adjacent to those indie tracks — manages to be beautiful in both sound and intention.

A common feeling throughout the work is akin to quiet confessionals as listeners metaphorically enter Hsu’s space, a bedroom of comfortable warmth but also of suppressed emotions and succumbing to numbness. On the tracks “attention” and “snow,” Hsu sings in a self-deprecating tone of heartbreak and bleak realities, with lyrics such as, “You were right. / You should be with him / I just want / Your attention,” and “You’re wasting my heat / Snow inside the sink / Snow inside my nose / It makes me feel so good.” I found “snow” to be the heaviest hitter; its lyrics relatable and acoustics immersive.

The next song “day” breaks up the album by offering a staticky piano instrumental. While it only plays for a quick 1:27 minute runtime, the sound is both soothing and devastating. It feels intentional that all of the tracks on the album do not breach three minutes, speaking their minds succinctly and honestly. “pigeons” continues this notion with the repetition of having not cried “in a long time.” And while it may appear honest, after a few listens the track starts to sound more like the desperate persuasion of someone trying to convince themselves of something they can’t admit to.

The latter half of the album shifts tonally, offering more upbeat bells, chimes and buzzes that echo hopefully. “help” is especially jaunty, with a head-nodding sound of someone recognizing their feelings for a friend and convincing them of their worth. “moving slow” also presents in a different light than the others with the lyrics appearing more resolute and accepting of time progression and the life we’ve been given. Closing the album is “starry night,” a wistful production that ebbs and flows with a childlike serenity. Perhaps there is beauty to be found in the snow’s coldness; how it is able to fall from a dark sky and still land softly with little impact.

Many of Hsu’s tracks on snow day seemingly tackle these aforementioned ideas of soul-bearing and contending with one’s mental health. Though not always implicit, the feeling is there through amp manipulation, guitar echoes and ghostly lyrical utterances as though from the next room over. The light is dim, snow is falling and the weighted blanket over your body grows heavier. Still, Hsu shows that perspectives can be shifted and a numbing blanket of snow can look ethereal under the right light of dawn. Check out more from the singer-songwriter on streaming platforms and on Instagram at @imcodyhsu. —Jamie Christensen

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