Easily the most miasmatic, harrowing, and schizophrenic LP the band released, stating, Will Sheff recently described the gestation process of I Am Very Far while discussing the anniversary of the Wrens’ The Meadlowlands, saying, “The one time that I didn’t really have any boundaries while recording a record, and that I was able to do what I wanted and take all the time that I wanted was when I did I Am Very Far. And I was going insane. I wasn’t happy. It wasn’t a happy state to be in.” And indeed, there’s a detached anomie at work throughout the album that renders it difficult to listen to at times, the sound of everything falling apart in a manner akin to classic nervous-breakdown records. Speaking to me shortly before the album’s release, Sheff was decidedly circumspect. Explaining his reluctance to offer specific details, he said, “With The Stage Names I felt like a bloody autopsy had been performed on it, and it had no life left, and you could see all the different body parts on the table, and for me it was completely dead.” From the clamorous, foreboding opener “Valley,” through the pitch-black waltz number “Wake and Be Fine,” I Am Very Far occupies a decidedly fractious headspace. Little is reconciled, and life, death, and love decay and smolder in a manner akin to a Cormac McCarthy novel, all scorched earth landscapes and fractured dialogue

He later revealed to me in that very same interview, “I like records that put you in an altered headspace. That’s what I was looking for on this record, something that would give you that sort of uncomfortable feeling.” Mission accomplished on this thoroughly indelible, challenging piece of work.