We all act a little differently around new people- as well as people who we know quite well. You're going to show more deference and regard for your Mom than you would an old friend from college (at least you should unless you'd like to get smacked on the side of the head with a wooden spoon), and you're most certainly going to present yourself as competent, professional, and knowledgable while you're on a job interview (unless the job is President of the United States, and the setting is a televised debate, in which case you might just air whatever grievances or offensive fantasies come to mind- why not, let it all hang out), more so than you would if you were, say, on a date (in either case, it's probably best to keep your more conspiratorial thought patterns to yourself- that's second or third date territory, Romeo). This is the way it works for me, at least- maybe your Mom thinks it's funny that you swear like a harried sous chef at a line cook during a dinner rush, or maybe your highest career ambition has been remaining especially drunk during the day while operating a car crusher without a license. I don't know you, but you do you. Who I do feel like I know a little better now is Hannya White. The London sound artist's second EP I call you another name is an incredibly minimalistic exploration of the slippery nature of identity- examining how easily it can be created, destroyed, molded, and shattered through a succession of light sonic suits that resemble the feeling of being home alone and hearing a noise from the other room- a sound that seems to betray the presence of something or someone endeavoring to avoid detection- you know, bump in the night sort of thing. Haunting or not, what becomes clear as you venture through the cottony cobweb mesh of trance-inflected, whisper-fine vocals, breathy groans of straining string arrangments, and moist unspoiling blossoms of wriggly beat-patterned is that this other presence you've been pursuing... the shape shrinking around the corner... the creak in the attic... is, well, you! It's always been you- just another side of you, one you didn't realize you had, or rather, was worth getting to know. Maybe that thing scooting around beneath the wallpaper of your mind's parlor is the side of you that can only be freed when you're alone... or when you've met the right person- the kind of person whose charisma holds the key to your heart, or who has the kind of personality that simmers at just the right temperature to melt the waxen walls of your defenses. Maybe it's because they call you by your name. Maybe they give you a new name, your true name. A secret name that only the two of you know and which you sigh to each other in the dead of night like a summoning spell to conjure forth with precious candor the person you were meant to be.
