An Empty Bliss Beyond This World - A Full Journey

Food for Thought: Bites of wisdom. Ideas to chew on.

“An Empty Bliss Beyond This World” is the name of an album by Leyland “The Caretaker” Kirby. I already wrote an article on his most famous project “Everywhere at the End of Time,” but I wanted to create this piece because I feel as though this album serves as a prequel to this project. The calm before the storm, if you will. Lasting only 52 minutes, it is significantly shorter than the main album. Despite this, it packs a huge emotional punch. Here are my thoughts throughout.

Good morning, Betty! The weather is supposed to be amazing today. Would you care to go on a picnic with me?

In most of the tracks in “An Empty Bliss Beyond This World,” the music isn’t abrasive, dissonant, or melancholy anymore, a stark contrast to any of the stages throughout “Everywhere at the End of Time.” The music is content and calm. As if you are looking out into nature, watching the birds-and the time-fly by. None of this is reminiscence, it is in the present, experiencing the slow tempo in the victory lap of life. Nothing is complicated, there are one or two musical elements per track. It’s the simplicity of life before any form of dementia takes over. 

There are crackles in the background, but for once, they are part of the music. It adds to the atmosphere. The songs may cut out here and there, switching from one pleasant melody to the next. These discrepancies are to be expected. Minor imperfections are a part of growing older for everyone. This music reminds me of my 98-year-old great-grandmother, a smiling soul who’s still sharp as a tack, enjoying the simple pleasures in life.

The titles in the songs represent the expected trajectory of aging more. For example…

• “Moments of Sufficient Lucidity”

• “Tiny Gradations of Loss”

Unfortunately, some of the other titles seem to represent some form of an end-of-life crisis. While life is enjoyable, perhaps they have some regrets. For example…

• “Fleeting Dreams” (Perhaps hinting toward the fact that this person wasn’t able to achieve all their goals in life)

• “Their Story is Lost” (Perhaps a sense of existentialism, that they won’t be remembered in the history of the universe)

• “I Feel as if I Might be Vanishing” (They realize that they may be in the final years of their life)

Additionally, some of the titles, and the melodies, are iterations of what we’ve heard in “Everywhere at the End of Time.” For example…

• “Mental Caverns Without Sunshine”

• “Camaraderie at Arms Length”

• “Libet’s Delay”

I feel as though there are many religious connotations in this album. The word “sublime” is used twice in the titles of the albums. Perhaps this suggests that this person's relationship with the God they worship is getting closer as they age.

While some of the songs are surprisingly clear, some aren’t so pristine. The levels of distortion go from more clean than Stage One (as an example, Camaraderie at Arms Length), to about as bad as Stage Three (as an example, Mental Caverns Without Sunshine).

The album cover in this stage is a sphere with a match coming out of the center. It seems very abstract, but I believe it resembles a snowman. I associate snowmen with lighthearted fun and happiness, which is what this stage appears to put in the foreground for the most part.

Listening to this album after the full Everywhere at the End of Time is an absolute punch in the gut. Knowing what's coming for this person, but their happiness and obliviousness before makes for an experience that is in my opinion, more sobering than the entirety of the main album. I thought I was tough after listening to Everywhere at the End of Time, but this album put me to tears. This project, in its totality, is a life-changing work of art. It’s beautifully terrifying, and that’s what makes it amazing. The melodies, finally clear. The scratches, finally distant. It’s the status quo, but more blissful than anyone could imagine after the agony of Everywhere at the End of Time. Perhaps, it is an empty bliss beyond this world.