As a clear ode to indie rock, dream pop, and the pretty, sticky pop music to come out of the early days of FM radio, Patrick Flegel's Cindy Lee is pulling all the right strings to make a record as enjoyable of a listen in this style as possible. At over two hours in total runtime, Diamond Jubilee is purely timeless and is full of wonder and joy.
Canada's Cindy Lee is the drag queen musical project created by Patrick Flegel, who initially broke out in the indie music scene as a member of the cult favorite post punk band Women. The music of Cindy Lee is often shrouded with mystery and noise, but is bright with poppy hooks and guitar tones. The music is often referred to as hypnogogic pop, which takes elements of dream pop, noise, indie rock, and pop matched with nostalgic pop music from the 50's and 60's, all wrapped in a lo-fi package. Flegel's falsetto voice is hauntingly beautiful and has quite the range when Flegel decides to change it up vocally. The recent mystery and obsession with Flegel's new album Diamond Jubilee involves a lot of things, many of them don't even have to do with the music itself. Flegel's Cindy Lee project is often pretty elusive and doesn't give too much away on the thought process behind the music. It released unexpectedly out of the blue, not on streaming, but rather as a pay what you want download on Geocities, a pretty old web hosting site of a bygone internet era (and also released as a sole YouTube video). What was also crazy was the instantly huge acclaim from multiple music sites, including the astoundingly rare and coveted 9.1 rating from Pitchfork. This acclaim and buzz coming from an album that isn't on streaming platforms and is from an artist that has beloved fans but is largely regarded as underground is pretty wild in 2024.
In regards to the music itself, it's even crazier as Diamond Jubilee is a double album that is over two hours long and spans a whopping thirty two-tracks. Typically these days when an artist releases an album of this length, it's pretty much a cash grab, an attempt to get as many streams as possible and often isn't for the art form of an album but rather an elongated playlist full of skippable filler. That isn't the case by any means with Diamond Jubilee, as there is not one dud throughout the thirty-two tracks and two hours of runtime. Flegel trades the noise pop of previous records and goes for more pop and indie rock elements to make a much more accessible release, making it a beautiful culmination of dreamy pop songs that are some of the stickiest and most memorable songs you'll hear all year. It's a marvel at how much variety and quality Flegel is able to pack into two hours. The album flows so well in chronological order or in a random order and any of these tracks can be your favorite. Listening to this album is such a cohesive experience that you won't even notice the track listing or order themselves. The tracks flow into one another perfectly, as if you're listening to one whole idea as a whole rather than fragments of ideas.
There are so many highlights throughout this album and listing the notable moments on all thirty-two would make this review a daunting read, so I'll showcase some of my favorites here. Starting with disc one, the opening title track that starts the album off is fantastic. The first thing you'll here is this hypnotic guitar line with stunning harmonies, finger snaps, and a kickdrum that grooves along the way. It's truly great and the five and a half minutes fly by. "Glitz" is a noisy, bluesy rock tune that shreds through and gallops in such a fun way. "Baby Blue" is a stunning ballad with pretty strings, guitar, and piano, reminiscent of the shimmering pop from the 50's. "Always Dreaming" is one of the album's best with arguably the album's best guitar licks over some gorgeously chilling synths. It's reminiscent of the excellent indie rock and jangle pop from the late 2000's, like many of the tracks here. "Wild One" is a beautiful, minimal ballad that feature's Flegel's lower register. "Flesh and Blood" is one of the synth heavy songs that's more post punky a la Flegel's previous band Women. "Kingdom Come" might be my favorite track on here. It's dreamy, carefree, has wonderful guitars and soaring melodic vocals that fly through the clouds on a sunny day. "Til Polarity's End" slowly creeps with its haunting soundscape, while "Realistik Heaven" closes up disc one in cinematic fashion with its lovely string section.
Disc two kicks off with the jumpy "Stone Faces" which has some sharp guitar playing that sputters in and out of the track and is incredibly epic and satisfying. "Gayblevision" is pure synthy post punk that prickly goes through your goosebumps as if it soundtracks an old horror flick. "Dracula" is pretty slick through its six minute runtime with jammy guitars, while "Lockstepp" eerily treads through with some creepy vocoder vocals and drum machines. "Deepest Blue" is another minimal pretty ballad and "To Heal This Wounded Heart" has some fantastic guitar playing and some great harmonies. "Darling of the Diskoteque" is stunning in its instrumentation of seamless guitar work. "If You Hear Me Crying" is one of the album's grooviest tracks, and the same goes for "Wild Rose," which you can't help but tap your foot to. "24/7 Heaven" is arguably one of the dreamiest tracks and closes the album in sweet melancholy while you hear those hypnotic strings.
As buzzed and acclaimed as Diamond Jubilee has been since its release, it's hard not to agree why. The songs are excellent, the performances are great. The production is beautiful, eerie, and dreamy. The overall flow of this record, regardless of the order your listening to these tracks, envelopes the listener in its lo-fi blissful glory. There's a lot to like here and not much to complain about. For a two hour long record, it's pretty impressive that nothing sticks out and the quality is strong throughout. It's one of the best and most unique album experiences of the year and universally you can put this thing on anywhere you go, whether it be a long walk outside, car ride, or in the living room. As a clear ode to indie rock, dream pop, and the pretty, sticky pop music to come out of the early days of FM radio, Patrick Flegel's Cindy Lee is pulling all the right strings to make a record as enjoyable of a listen in this style as possible. Nothing sounds dated or out of place in the slightest. As off of the current trends that this album rollout has been, Diamond Jubilee is purely timeless and is full of wonder and joy.
My Rating: 8 / 10
Favorite Songs: "Kingdom Come," "Diamond Jubilee," "Always Dreaming," "Stone Faces," "Baby Blue," "24/7 Heaven," "To Heal This Wounded Heart," "If You Hear Me Crying," "Wild Rose"
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