Nebraska native Patrick Spicer Cassidy released his debut album on May 10th. His album, entitled Oxygen, tells of Cassidy’s struggles with mental illness and gives hopeful messages for other people going through the same things.
The album’s second track “Find the Silence” is a gorgeous song that begins with acoustic guitar and uses imagery of wide open land, drawing from his hometown in Nebraska. This track also includes a guitar solo that’s classic and easy-flowing, bringing a classic rock feel to the album. Cassidy spread a message in this track to find peace in dark times, reminding us that “Nothing lasts”.
“Find You In The Void” begins with the sounds of TV recordings followed by an electronic-sounding electric guitar part. Both of which give the effect of being transported into a dystopian near-future or free-floating in space. Here, Cassidy shows his versatility as a songwriter, going from old-school rock to dark and gritty, and he does it all so well. “Find You In The Void” takes on the same motivational tone as his previous tracks despite the change in tone. He sings “The worst is over now”, closely followed by an intense hype-up guitar solo. (The guitar all throughout this album is absolutely fabulous.)
Cassidy’s stories of his struggles with mental health are perhaps most prominent in the album’s fourth track, “Ghosts”, which is a term often used by people who live with mental illness. The use of the term stems from many mental illnesses causing people to live with dulled emotions, brain fog, and memory loss, making them feel empty and detached, like living ghosts. Once again, Cassidy dedicates himself to lifting others up- “Don’t you say we’ll never win. We’re trying, but all we are is ghosts.”
Cassidy also uses the term “masquerade” to illustrate the feeling of wearing a mask to act joyful or okay in front of the people he loves. “Ghosts” is an extremely powerful song for people who have also struggled with their mental health. He also described feeling lost in his song “Desert”, which uses a narrative of walking through a desert to continue to illustrate his experience. He sings hard-hitting and emotional lines like “Holding on, I wonder why” to pack an emotional punch for listeners.
One of the highlights of the album is “Stone Cold Inside”, a track which turns the focus outwards, from Cassidy’s mind to the people around him- “Don’t sing about me, you don’t have the right. Sing how you left me lost in the night.” Here, the title refers to the people who didn’t help him when he needed it. This track creates a necessary balance in this album by taking on an edgier sound and expanding on the internal world created in previous tracks.
In “Rapture”, Cassidy expands on feelings of tiredness and sadness. With the line “I have fallen asleep at the wheel and I need to know this is real”, Cassidy talks about feelings that so many people deal with daily. As his career grows, tracks like this can make so many people feel less alone, which is so valuable and why we need songwriters as open and honest about their experiences as Cassidy.
Patrick Spicer Cassidy speaks to so many people in these songs and does it from a place of experience, hardship, and love. His good intentions in his songwriting are so clear and make him an artist to watch for.
Reviewed by Steph Stone