Debut Album Review: SIXPOINTS' poetic Lynchian audio odysee with Negative Space
Debut album Negative Space from experimental western Canadian band SIXPOINTS
Our first album review and publication under The Alchemy of Creation is the debut albums from western Canadian Lynchian experiemental psychedelic pagan goth electronic band SIXPOINTS. If that description piques your interest then you’re in for a treat.
When I relaunched The Anartist Collective as a mixed creative arts magazine and review one of my main missions is to cover all the creative arts, explore creativity and support and share the work from creative artists from across the spectrum whether starting something new or continuing down a long path. The relaunch started with Subvervise Frequencies Eclectic Pirate Radio on January 1 and as I was spending the previous month and a half looking for independent musicians and small label musical artists to spotlight over large mainstream music I started going down the Instagram rabbithole to find and follow musical artists across the musical spectrum and compile an ever-expanding list across genres, I came across some bands and musicians that don’t have any released music yet I decided to add to the list to watch for future releases. From the bits I gathered from their Instagram posts they seemed like an incredibly interesting band I wanted to keep an eye on and I’m glad I did because poet and half of SIXPOINTS Jimy Dawn reached out to me to review their debut album, Negative Space out now and I’m incredibly honored to be asked especially after listening to the album. I can’t even describe how I feel that SIXPOINT’s music is the first album review for The Anartist Collective Creative Arts Magazine.
I asked Jimy for some key points for the review and introducing their work including what their inspiration is and what he said is so beautiful all I can do is quote him directly:
“Art is not optional. Art is communication and we have no choice especially given the dominant order. We need to hear voices from the radicals, revolutionaries, punks, shit disturbers, free thinkers, artists because the squeeze is on and there’s no time to waste. Silence is not an option.”
The sentiment of the statement is incredibly apparent listening to the songs on Negative Space. Both with extensive musical backgrounds dating to the late 1990s with a project called SYLO, SIXPOINTS members Shaun Day Woods and Jimy Dawn started sharing music with each other over the past few years while Jimy was living in Toronto and had written and published a couple of books of poetry through Night Forest Press. After Jimy recently moved back to the coast, he and Shaun have been doing live shows and in 2025 entered the studio to record two albums, their debut Negative Space out now and Lithium slated for late February release.
I have to agree with Jimy that the sound is a bit hard to pin down because of the myriad of sounds and inspirations so beautifully blended together but the result is something befitting a David Lynch movie, a soundtrack for a spiritual journey through the underground to rise like the phoenix from the ashes. From the song names to the lyrics to the very sound, the poetic spoken-word lyrics together with the post-industrial psychedelic goth sound with a dash of blues and tribal sounds for a philosophical journey plumming into emotions, the human experience, the struggle of existence and the journey of the soul immersed in a trancelike warm bath of vibration. Each song is a slow-burn mood that hypnotically flows right into the next with hints of Patty Smith, Lou Reed, the heart and soul of blues combined with atmospheric pagan gothwave tones and a touch of 90s alternative and low key industrial thrown in that perfectly soundtracks the story of the human spirit told throughout the albums spoken-word lyrical tale. SIXPOINT’s debut Negative Space album would fit in perfectly with any art school dorm room, underground goth club, artist coffee house and all other creative and intellectual mixed-art spaces. Between the weaving narrative of the lyrics to the calming overall tone of the songs it’s a very easy album to get lost in.
If you like doom psychedelic rock, experimental musical art, slow alternative music, post-industrial goth, spoken word poetry set as music or music that sounds like it fell off a David Lynch movie soundtrack, this album is for you especially those of a artsier, witchier persuasion. I, for one, will be adding SIXPOINTS to my artsy fartsy time playlist and yes, I literally have a playlist labeled “artsy fartsy time”. It was easy losing myself in the music listening while writing this review and I know for a fact I can easily lose myself in this album while getting into my artistic flow state working on paintings.
A special thank you goes to Jimy for thinking of me and reaching out to ask me to review this album for our first album review. I couldn’t think of a more perfect album to launch our reviews with.
Find more from SIXPOINTS including their music and where to follow them on social media for updates including Instagram at https://www.sixpointslive.ca/
Listen to SIXPOINTS on Bandcamp and if you’d like to purchase Negative Space on vinyl you can DM them on Instagram or email them at now@sixpointslive.ca
To find out more about Jimy Dawn and where to find his books of poetry for sale visit https://www.jimydawn.ca/
And for further album review with samples from the album with me, Shelly Olmstead, watch the video below