contingency is not an easy album to listen to, but it’s a necessary one.
It’s not so hard to write a song that people enjoy partying to. It’s a little harder to write a song that other people can connect to, but it can be done.
It takes true daring and skill, however, to write song after song after song that truly bares your soul, that allows a total stranger an understanding of your mind’s inner workings. This is not music as expression. This is music as survival. Alyssa Kai is as tough as they come.
On her website, Kai credits Greg McKillop as an influence. There are a lot of similarities between their music: the literate assertions spat rapid-fire over folk-punk guitar riffs, tied up in a bow with some truly dark humor; the relentless pursuit of self-love over death. “Exegetical Heretical” stands out in particular as a commitment to pride even at the expense of casting off one’s upbringing. contingency, and Kai, are a testament to art’s ability not only to remind us that we’re not alone, but to inspire us to do and be better.