Written by Aly Maaño The beginning of the year is programmed for a personal reset. People eagerly work on their resolutions or, at least, plan the next step. But it’s not always how it’s set out to be. Some are still reflecting on the past year, revisiting old wounds to process what needs to be left behind. inanotherworld’s latest single, “airfrying chicken nuggets for 10 minutes at 200°C,” lets us linger in this period of reflection before release. This five-minute track blends the heavier sound of shoegaze with the slacker tempo and somber composition of slowcore to capture the dissonance of existing in a world that rewards constant movement over stillness. It starts with a chaotic frenzy of drums, pedal distortions, and glitchy frequencies that seem to echo an initial frustration. But it’s nothing that a long walk can’t subdue. This is what the first half of the song feels like. A long walk around the city after coming back from school or work after the holidays. The gloomy tone of the guitars pulls the listener out of their reality to observe what lies beyond the concrete jungle and urban sprawl. Even with melodies meant to evoke a melancholic mood, the track ironically inspires the listener to romanticize life and find serenity amidst the chaos. With beautiful, ghostly vocals accompanying sparse instrumentation, the experience is stretched out into a hundred blissful moments. As seen in the track’s cover art, snippets of the cityscape feel like a much-needed pause to take everything in. By the second half, “airfrying chicken nuggets for 10 minutes at 200°C” unfurls into a euphoric outburst, bringing banging snares and heavier riffs forward. During this prolonged sequence, a sense of comfort is instilled through sound rather than emotional lyricism. The repetition of downbeat melodies is meditative, healing almost. In this track, inanotherworld morphs common themes of slowcore — defeatism and somber slow burns — into a calm renewal. It turns a normal evening walk into an introspection while everything else moves in linear time. SUPPORT THE ART AND THE ARTIST: