For Shuman, the disparity between looking outwards and looking inwards seems like it’s never been more pertinent. Playing bass for titans Queens Of The Stone Age for a day job, the late-night, pandemic musings we hear on My Demons may touch on anxious, claustrophobic topics, but there’s a sense of breezy freedom in how Shuman paints them. Though the title track “My Demons” is heavy lyrically, it’s built over a hazy, nodding beat and delivered with complete nonchalance that can only be the product of an artist working in relative security (for all the horrors he describes, “I don’t let it faaaaaaaze me”). That doesn’t mean it’s any less charged, though; Shuman’s palette of influences are the intriguing thing here, the jerky flow distinctly Twenty One Pilots, veterans of the emotional outpouring above a bouncy beat. When Phantogram’s Sarah Barthel’s dreamy vocals chime in for the middle 8, Shuman gets to flex his more ethereal production muscles - it’s fun to hear it unfold.
It’s entertaining to see how Shuman brings in the darkness when he seems to be having so much fun playing with the sonics. “Nightshift” begins with a practical barbershop quartet, distorted vocal layers begging to be left alone over jaunty keys, the groove continuing even as the vocals sink to an undertone, chugging along goodnaturedly even though, still, Shuman wishes for a reprieve. “I don’t wanna live another day like this” has never sounded perkier; it’s almost nonsensically bright but addictive to listen to.
For those who expected something gloomier from an EP about someone’s battles and struggles, “Moonwalkin’” may almost hit the spot – it’s certainly a nighttime track, opulent sevenths and misty synths drifting along through the verses. But you’ll find nothing but a wonderfully satisfying melodic resolution in the chorus. The EP comes to a similarly satisfying resolution, Shuman declaring “I’m still tight with all my demons” in a callback to track one that’s equally smooth and relaxed on the surface.
If you enter into My Demons expecting an emotionally raw retrospective of the most demanding period of many of our lives, you may not find what you’re looking for. But if you’re looking for something lighter, following one man’s journey through but not quite out of the other side as told by shiny production and slick lyricism, My Demons does the job.
