Animals in Denial Finds the Song Beneath the Noise on “I Rather”

There is no substitute for a good song. You can throw as many production tricks, clever effects, genre labels and fashionable sonic flourishes at a recording as you like, but sooner or later everything comes back to the same question: is there actually a song underneath all of it?

Thankfully, with Animals in Denial’s latest single, “I Rather,” the answer is a very definite yes.

Christian Imes, the musician behind Animals in Denial, has spent years learning how to make music his own way. Starting with guitar as a teenager, he taught himself synthesizers, drums, bass and the increasingly complicated business of recording and production, gradually turning his home studio into something approaching a one man musical laboratory. And while that independence is an important part of the Animals in Denial story, it would mean very little if the songs themselves weren't there.

With “I Rather,” they are.

Forget trying to decide exactly which alternative rock pigeonhole this belongs in. There is something much more appealing happening here. The track has its own personality, and that is ultimately much more interesting. It feels like the work of somebody who has spent years listening, experimenting, learning and then simply deciding to trust his own instincts.

And perhaps that is why the title feels so appropriate. “I Rather” sounds like a small declaration of independence, but there is nothing especially grandiose about it. It is simply the confidence to choose your own direction.

That attitude has clearly been central to Imes' musical development. Rather than waiting until he could afford the perfect equipment or surround himself with a full band of specialists, he learned how to play more instruments and take control of more of the creative process himself. And curiosity is a rather wonderful quality to hear in a musician.

“I Rather” doesn't need a complicated sales pitch. It is a good reminder that independent music doesn't have to mean inaccessible music, and that a DIY approach doesn't have to mean sacrificing songwriting. If anything, Animals in Denial demonstrates that learning the machinery behind music can ultimately give a songwriter more freedom, not less.

“I Rather” has that foundation. And for an artist who has spent years teaching himself how to turn an idea into a finished piece of music, perhaps there is no better evidence that all that learning has been worth it.

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