The project of two cousins that play together since the 90’s and that invited several known artists to join them in collaboration, Insane Blue is a French based rock outfit that excels bringing out diverse soundscapes in each record they put out. There’s an overwhelming sense of scale to this album, with each individual track on ‘A State of Mental Confusion’ being seemingly its own magnum opus. With influences that range from Radiohead to Jeff Buckley, Insane Blue is rife with opulence from top to bottom. The dual project of Phillippe and Paul started all the way back in the 90s and is now back post the pandemic to take their grand alternative rock soundscapes to new audiences.
‘A State of Mental Confusion’ is far from what I’d consider a light hearted indie record. It’s a heavy piece of rock, not in terms of crashing aggression, but in terms of weighted soundscapes that possess an innate size and depth that has you almost wholly immersed throughout. The subtle ebbs and flows on ‘A Crown of Twelve Stars’ alongside a rather unexpected but poignant falsetto compares starkly to the ominous and haunting ‘The Sound and the Fury’.
It doesn’t sound like a metal record, but it feels like one. It doesn’t sound palatial, but it feels opulent. Masterfully composed, scintillatingly arranged, and meaningfully plaintive throughout, ‘A State of Mental Confusion’ is truly a bit confused, but altogether a seamless and grandiose collection.