Saint Idiot - Alternate Utopias from a Nostalgic Future

Saint Idiot

Alternate Utopias from a Nostalgic Future
​self-released; 2021

4.2 out of 5 - TOP ALBUM

By Matt Jensen

Tomáš Andel, better known as Saint Idiot, is a Slovak-Canadian art pop musician, writer and multimedia artist from Edmonton, Canada. He recently released Alternate Utopias from a Nostalgic Future.

It took about a minute of listening to the first track and highlight “Terracotta” where I thought this was some of the most inventive production I’ve heard in recent memory. The artist mentions Bjork as a like-minded artist. I would say that’s pretty spot on. Although there might be even more transitions in this music. “Terracotta” goes all over the place and in ways I was not expecting.

The songs are synth heavy as you can hear on “Cherry” which starts off a little more pop-oriented. It’s catchy and drives in its own way. The artist also makes exceptional use of space. You can hear this on the opening track but also on “Bubblewrap” which sounds a bit like James Blake.

“Eggshell” was a killer song. The groove is hard to describe. It sounds like it might be a harp that’s combined with synths of some sort. There’s a lot of intricate details you might miss if you aren’t paying attention.

“Depression Eraser” is a dynamic song. There’s some unique bass work and this track also has some of the best vocal hooks. It reminded me somewhat of the Beck album Midnite Vultures. “Talk” is one of the more emotive and orchestral songs in the batch.

One of my favorite grooves was on “Utopia.” The beat runs deep on this song and sounds like you’re inside of a video game engine. I really enjoyed the closer “Haunt Me (Species Loneliness)” as well which is a seven-minute epic which transitions into a straight up conversation between people.

​Andel is pushing boundaries on this one. I suggest using headphones. Highly recommended.

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