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REVIEW: JACK ADAMANT "HELIUM IN LOW VOLTAGE WIRING" | iodine rae
⇦back It’s summer 2025—Stockholm-based indie punk act Jack Adamant releases his latest album, Helium In Low Voltage Wiring (which, can we just take a moment to admire that title? phew)—and then I of course wait way too long to cover it. I figure, there’s no better day than a rainy, semi-miserable April day to dig into a record whose reflective, emotional temperament slips down the window like gentle, though unforgivingly cold drops of rain. 
Quiet isn’t quite the right word to describe the sound of the record. Reserved, maybe. In a way, it holds itself together with a mellowness, which keeps the listener in steady motion while still thumping across potholes. It maintains a glimmering, undemanding drone that is comparable to shoegaze, driven by particularly strong drum lines and glossy riffs. Adamant’s vocals are, I’d say almost subdued—breathy and keening, and controlled. Yet, he sings with a sort of dreamy conviction about him.
Lyrically, it remains consistent throughout; Adamant looks inward and reconciles with past regrets and heartaches. The record’s themes pair excellently with the melancholy, invoked through its tinges of grunge and innate fragility. Overall, it’s clear that Adamant’s vision for the record was solid, as it’s well put together and flows neatly for its admittedly snappy runtime (only about half an hour between 10 tracks). “Squeeze My Head” definitely stands out as my favorite. It’s intensely relatable, it’s catchy, and damn I just love the instrumental. I am also often laying awake in bed, ruminating on life and nursing my anxieties. Sometimes all you feel you can do is put your head in your hands, a recurrent scenario in my own life that I feel this song captures well. The record is decidedly human in that way—it speaks to the relationship between emotion and memory, something which can reach into just about anyone and extract individual meaning. Of course, I have to highlight Eric Haney’s brass arrangement on “Back From Me”, which adds another layer of texture to the track, and breathes new life into the listening experience in the second half of the record. If you know anything about me, you’ll know I love a good horn, so I was stoked to hear them in this one! And it’s all rounded out with Adamant’s rendition of The Cure’s “Friday I’m In Love”, a proper fit for the overall atmosphere and a touch that I particularly appreciate. It gives the listener something familiar while still keeping in line with the rest of the record, drawing on those ideas of memory and reflection. For maximum effect, I’d give Helium In Low Voltage Wiring a spin on a rainy day, during a cool night drive, or as you lie in bed studying the ceiling.
(Published 4-4-26) |
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