by Seth Webb

Zodiac by Xan Griffin is an interesting concept album, because not only is there a track named after each of the twelve zodiac symbols, Griffin actually released the tracks one by one, starting in March with Gemini, one month at a time for their corresponding sign. Because of this the album was released over the course of a year. Two additional songs, Zodiac and Ophiucus were also included in the album as bonus content when the full album was released March 24th, 2018 on Xan Griffin's 18th Birthday. The album's official genre is Dance, though each track differs from the other pretty well spanning many different styles and themes. In its full release the order of the tracks was shifted to have the order of the tracks start with Aries, the first sign of the year (starting with the vernal equinox rather than January First.)

Aries, Scorpio, and Aquarius(feat. Romy Wave) are intense and ferocious, full of power and could be easily the soundtrack to an intense battlefield. Scorpio is the only of these to have any vocal element, and therefore has some form of a narrative that helps build the intensity towards the second drop. All three of these can be described as epic, and are these grand echoing pieces.

Taurus(feat. Tedy), Leo(feat. NÉONHÈART),  and Gemini(feat. Wild) are more focused on their vocal aspects, but each still has a loyalty towards more electronic elements, sharing between the two sides, blending maybe a more pop centric chorus followed by an electric drop. The lyrics tend to focus on personal relationships, and tend to express their emotion with imagery and metaphor, and there is some very nice imagery to be had here, and the songs are very pleasant.

Virgo(feat. Darcy), Cancer(feat. Emellia Ali), Capricorn(feat. Wolfe) , and Pisces(feat. Lilanna Wilde) take it a step further and lean more into the vocal performances and really blur the line between dance and pop, especially Cancer who listened to in isolation from the rest of the album would be placed in a different genre entirely. These songs' subject matter tend to be on a deeper, more romantic level personal relationship, and tell those stories in both differing music and lyric composition. Pisces has a happier sound to it and relies heavily on metaphor and imagery, mainly aquatic themed to fit the name of the song, while Cancer is more a telling of past events and has a minor, almost sad tone to it, reflecting the nature of an unachievable desire. Capricorn is more foreboding, and uses more dance elements than the others, though I place it in this category not the other because they are typically controlled by the vocal performance and serve to fit it. Virgo is a very upbeat song and has the least serious matter in its lyrics as well, tending more towards nostalgia and a more friend-ish relationship with the lines blurred between the terms of it.

Sagittarius(feat. Love, Alexa) is more an uplifting piece, it has a very nice pacing to it with swelling instrumentation and vocals. It is a very nice piece, more subdued than Aries but more energetic than Pisces. Libra is a more playful song, having an almost childlike feel to its sound design, with the xylophone and tribal drum patterning, it is the most youthfilled piece on the album.

Ophiucus does stand out from the others, not necessarily in a good way. This isn’t to say that it's bad, far from it, it just doesn’t reach the heights of the other tracks and focuses mainly on a piano medley for the majority, ending with a electronic section and then ends abruptly on the piano again, its ending almost as an out of place surprise that is very off putting. Zodiac on the other hand is far from this, it begins two with a piano that blends into an electric guitar and then electronic music that builds and has fun with stereoscopic sound. While I wouldn’t say it is the best song on the album, it does a good job at demonstrating both the raw power and subtle beauties that can be found in the album and is a clear demonstration of Xan Griffin's abilities as a producer.

Zodiac is one of the most consistently good albums I have ever heard, every song on it is elegantly composed and worthy of in depth analysis.