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Album Review of the Week: Absolutely - Paracosm (2026)

Absolutely's second album is a masterclass at building a visionary soundscape. The album is a little slower than I usually gravitate towards, but she creates such a lush sound between the dreamy instrumental and her rich vocals.

Visually, the album is striking as well with its circus-like illustration. This album reminds me a book I really enjoyed, The Night Circus. This all ties into the album's title beautifully as paracosm is defined as "a detailed imaginary world thought generally to originate in childhood."

Natural Disaster starts us off by opening with a striking piano riff, sounding like the instrument is in need of a tuning. Immediately, we hear some expertly layered vocals creating a rich harmony, nearly multiplying this solo artist into a chorus of infinity. Then some intense percussion hits followed by a deep, piercing synth for the second verse.

Nowhere To Hide transitions from the last track so well that I almost didn't realize a new song had started! Not that it sounds too much alike, it is more of a natural progression in sound building from the last track. A bit more energy and intensity, the vocal mix is a bit more forward to add more intention in the lyrics. It also serves to highlight her vocals more which is very much welcome. I love her little inflections and choices in pronunciation throughout the entire project.

Painting By Numbers has really great vocal mixing as well. There is a lot more reverb to make her blend more into the background. Paired with the dreamy instrumentation, this makes for a very lush soundscape.

Helium stands out to me because I absolutely love the little bird sound she makes once the song starts to pick up around the 2 minute mark. The track has a very slow start, but has a really nice flow once it gets going.

Simple Things is a cute little midtempo. The lyrics and the repetitive guitar riff are childlike in a charming way.

No Audience is super lush and dramatic! The background vocals are intricate, we have swelling strings and the chorus bursts with sound. There's an interesting percussion solo at the 2 minute mark that is really disjointed to add to the mood.

Prototype is a major outlier when it comes to sound! It is high energy with some crazy melodies, it sounds trendier than any of the other songs. It is very fun and I really like it, just quite surprising in its company! I like how "bragadocious" it is, another reason it is an outlier in these more vulnerable lyrical themes.

No Furniture maintains the higher energy level, just a bit more grounded and funky. Her vocals are mixed more forward again, you can really hear how she soars over the melody in this one. The bridge has some gorgeous vocal layering.

Elevator is one of my favorite tracks. I love her vocal styling, how she tends to drop her vowels. The chorus is just really dreamy.

Trojan Horse is pretty slow and the vocal melody is a bit disjointed so it doesn't really stand out for me. Although when she hits the higher notes, she reminds of Regina Spektor in this one.

I love Paracosm, it always makes me think of when I saw her open for Raye in April. The spotlight was on her just right that it dipped down onto the stage to make the circle look more like a keyhole, giving Alice In Wonderland, which I am choosing to believe was intentional. Every element of this song is so dreamy and combines to create a goosebump-worthy ballad.

I Just Don't Know You Yet is the big standout. It is a gorgeous ballad about your eventual soulmate. Her vocals are stunning, the instrumentation is dramatic - heavy percussion! The literal sister to Raye's Where Is My Husband!

Goodbye Glitter closes us out with another example of incredible vocal layering. This one is pretty slow so I don't go out of my way to listen to it aside from the album. Despite that, it is yet another really gorgeous track. Besides the vocal, the piano and strings are beautiful as well.