On “Dress to Kill” The Qualia Show How Our Most Existentially Disheveled and Unraveled Moments May Be Our Most Liberated and Real

TheQualia1_sm — The Qualia, photo courtesy the artists

The Qualia really capture what it feels like to look good on the outside but falling apart on the inside on “Dress to Kill.” The first part of the song is cast in jangle-y guitar sounds and a borderline menacing cadence. But a little over halfway through the tone is more ethereal and melodic, the vocals more soaring as the subject of the song can’t contain the geyser of anxiety any longer, the pressure of keeping up appearances discarded completely. The touch of synth melody and echoing guitar is reminiscent of the simple but evocative way The The used to use similar elements to mix earnest instrumentals with the electronic. In the end the song addresses how maybe in our most exposed moments about which we should be most embarrassed might be the only times in life we’re fully free to be who we are even if others are repulsed by our reality and we end up isolated from “respectable” company. In the closing moments of the song it feels like The Qualia is saying it’s worth it for those moments of honesty and personal liberation from the manufactured constraints of hypocritical polite society. Listen to “Dress to Kill” on Soundcloud and follow The Qualia at the links below.