Singer-songwriter Indigo De Souza’s most recent and third overall studio album “All of This Will End,” was released on April 28, nearly two years since the release of her last record, “Any Shape You Take.” The new album contains many of De Souza’s trademarks: her voice that always seems to sound raw from yelling, the crashing drums, and timeless bass and guitar backing provided by bandmates Dexter Webb and Zack Kardon.
Though she’s been creating music since the age of nine, De Souza is still a relatively fresh face in the indie music scene — cultivating most of her fanbase in the past few years. Her debut album “I Love My Mom” was initially self-released in 2018 but gained traction after being re-released by label Saddle Creek in 2021.
The album has 11 tracks in total which range in mood from deep melancholy to utter joy, the thematic throughline being a combination of nostalgia and existentialism.
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The album’s three singles “Younger & Dumber,” “Smog” and “You Can Be Mean” were all accompanied by music videos. “Younger & Dumber,” the album’s mournful final track, is perhaps the most stunning. The video opens with a series of shots of home videos from the singer’s childhood interspersed with clips in a similarly grainy style of De Souza present day, preparing for and then performing a kind of interpretive dance. The video complements the intricate weirdness of De Souza’s music with an equally complex costume — created by the singer and her mother, Kimberly Oberhammer — and set.
A personal favorite of mine has to be “The Water.” A beautifully textured yet simple track that I find myself smiling at and tapping my toes to, despite the otherwise fiery hellscape that is finals week. Lyrics ‘I ride down to the water / I run my fingers through it / I don't think anyone's around,’ encapsulate the joy that only a certain type of welcome solitude can bring.
But the album isn’t all sunshine and rainbows — in fact, the majority of the songs touch on much more depressing topics. In “You Can Be Mean,” De Souza sings in her trademark breathless, shout-y voice about being in a one-sided relationship. In the accompanying music video, she hilariously dresses up as her own toxic boyfriend, texting and subsequently ignoring herself.
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Similarly distressing tracks include “Losing,” a song about the helplessness of abandonment, in which the chorus contains softer vocals than listeners typically get from De Souza. On “Always,” a track which begins softly, but switches to a grungy tone halfway through, the singer seems to deliver alternating messages to her mother and father. It’s a therapeutic release of rage at one parent mixed with a love letter for the other.
The album’s first track is maybe the best summation of the record’s intention. De Souza sings ‘You're bad / You suck / You fucked me up’ with palpable anger and resentment. But the track ends on a lighter note with her voice lightening towards the end, singing sweetly and softly ‘When I come home / I will begin again.’ It’s a hopeful message of the singer willing herself to change, become better despite the heartbreaks of the past.
De Souza, who is currently touring internationally, seems incapable of anything less than sheer greatness. She’s emotionally tapped-in, and her artistry continues to improve with each release, an unbeatable combination. You can see her in Bloomington on June 10th for Granfalloon.
