Edward Skeletrix Paints A Vivid Dystopia With Museum Music
In the year of 2025, it’s become increasingly difficult to for us to navigate the world with the optimism we once had. While that might come across as a bit harsh for an introduction, sometimes we need to address this uncomfortable reality in order to make a change.
Besides the concerning (& objectively deranged) political landscape we’ve been facing since the beginning of the year, a lot of people have been dealing with very familiar internal struggles that seemingly no one wants to open up about. Whether it’s consumerism, substance abuse, isolation, social media reliance, greed, body dysmorphia, and so on, I think it’s safe to assume that we’re currently living through a mental health crisis primarily fueled by the current online era. With all the chaos that surrounds us on a daily basis, sometimes it’s just easier to completely dissociate, rather than facing these problems head-on.
In the oversaturated landscape of the “underground music” scene, Edward Skeletrix is an emerging artist that has particularly stood out to me for a variety of reasons. With his latest album, appropriately titled “Museum Music”, doubling as a piece of experimental performance art that serves as a dystopian commentary on the modern world, here’s my reason as to why you should keep Edward Skeletrix on your radar moving forward.
Museum Music (Album Cover)
Released on New Year’s Day, alongside a public art gallery that further explored the album’s concepts, Museum Music immediately set the tone for our society’s current headspace in a way that I don’t think I’ve ever seen before (& while I obviously want to focus on the content of the album itself, the public gallery was a truly unique experience that should not go unnoticed & I would definitely recommend checking it out after listening to the album to get a full understanding on what Edward was trying to communicate here).
In terms of the sound/genre you should expect to hear going into Museum Music, Edward explores one of modern hip hop’s most prevalent sub-genres; rage. Made popular by the likes of artists such as Playboi Carti & Yeat, rage is often compared to punk music due to its distorted/aggressive production style, wild vocal delivery, & overall lack of following the traditional “rules” when it comes to making music on a professional level. While this energetic & rebellious sound is loved by many (myself included), it has often been criticized for the supposed glorification of substance abuse, violence & consumerism. With Museum Music, Edward not only uses these recurring themes/criticisms to his advantage, but he dials them up to the max. The production is distorted to the point where it borders on experimental or even avant-garde. You would think that the computers these songs were recorded on were malfunctioning mid-session with how glitchy the sound design is throughout. In terms of his vocal performance, it ranges from aggressively incoherent to barely alive. While on the surface, it might seem like he’s simply mumbling (or straight up making random sound effects) throughout, the lyrical content shouldn’t be overlooked (& yes, he did actually provide lyrics for each of the songs for those who can’t understand a single thing he’s saying on first listen).
While this album wasn’t written with the technical proficiency of some of hip hop’s legends, Edward still explores the album’s overall themes in an intentionally dumbed-down manner & it’s reflected in the song titles. Some examples such as “Typical Rap Song (11/12), Life’s So Funny, Plastic Body, Drug Dealer Injects Fentanyl, Killing Over Likes, Making Art For Money, & Yo Bro Will Kill You For A Band” very directly address the issues he’s exploring, & that’s not even mentioning the lyrical content of the songs themselves. Throughout the entire album, there’s a variety of motifs that are frequently referenced to reinforce the effects the modern world has on his mental health. Some examples that really stick out to me include: “life’s so funny, it must be a joke”, “all the chaos, death & destruction”, “psychosis”, “why is it so hard to be happy”, “plastic body on me, I can’t feel you”, “I mentally checked out”, & “sometimes I really hate being human”.
Overall, Edward Skeletrix’s Museum Music is an incredibly interesting reflection on the modern dystopia we currently live in that I could genuinely talk about for hours. But don’t just take my word for it, as it’s best that you experience the album for yourself. It definitely won’t be for everyone, but I would recommend going into it with an open mind, because you just might see the beauty in the chaos like I did.
Check the album out here: