The World Is a Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid to Die – Illusory Walls – Ltd Ed, Double Clear Vinyl, Epitaph, 2021
To fully grasp Illusory Walls, the fourth album by The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die, start at the end. The epic 19-minute closer, “Fewer Afraid,” not only revisits themes from the preceding ten tracks but serves as a self-aware summary of the band’s history. It ties together the album’s stories and reflects on the lives and experiences that shaped them. As vocalist/guitarist David F. Bello explains, the song provides a higher-level perspective, touching on past themes and their broader context: “It’s about a world where these things happen, rather than just the things happening.”
Amid the pandemic, the band—David F. Bello, Steven K. Buttery (drums), Joshua Cyr (bass/vocals), and Katie Dvorak (vocals/synth)—had time to fully explore their ambitions. Written and recorded remotely, Illusory Walls is their most ambitious work yet. It wrestles with the weight of existence in today’s near-dystopian society, merging personal anxieties with political struggles. The result is a dark, dramatic album that builds on the band’s journey since their 2009 formation.
