The album is rife with contradictions: how is it that the intricate and bizarre rhythms and structures can so consistently organize around such a firm pulse?
I have yet to listen to the album but your question did bring an answer. Chaotic, messy, intense, methodical, acceleration/deceleration, all words you've used to describe the musical experience and yet we are fully immersed every day with this cacophony. I'm in my kitchen, the sound of the A/C humming, the fridge buzzing, the drip from my sink, the dogs scratching, and the damnable fly that keeps buzzing my head. But there is a steady beat in all that noise. My pulse. And if I close my eyes and concentrate on that, it's steady. It's life. And maybe that's what Yowie's music is about. LIFE and all its beautiful noise.
I would say, more specifically, that it definitely evokes modern life, and its anxious, jittery, neurotic pace. The pulse, however, doesn't strike me as internal; it's probably more like an alarm clock stuck in the wall that you can't turn off.
As far as what it's about, they're actually pretty explicit about this (while still being opaque somehow, hah, another contradiction):
Oh gosh, I would go completely mad if it was like an alarm clock that I couldn't shut off. To strive for euphoria and dread though... LOL... I don't even know what to say about this dichotomy. Do I want to experience such a thing? And if I do, might I be in an altered state of mind to really appreciate it? I don't know!
When I was in music school I did a psychology experiment in the cafeteria, playing different styles of music as people ate and recording my observations. It was rather interesting.
It's very unique intense music! You just have to listen to it, it's probably impossible to just imagine.
That's cool, what were your observations?