HEALTH drops new album CONFLICT DLC - An album review
HEALTH doesn’t make albums you put on in the background. Their records feel closer to systems than songs—something you’re dropped into and forced to sit with. CONFLICT DLC leans fully into that idea. It’s cold, tense, and intentionally unwelcoming, like it’s daring you to look away. This album feels less like a new chapter and more like an update. Not an upgrade, not a reboot—just more pressure added to something that was already unstable. The sound is stripped down but heavier because of it. Beats don’t move much. They loop, stall, grind. Synths hang in the air like warning lights that never turn off.
There’s a patience to this record that makes it unsettling. HEALTH isn’t rushing anything. They let ideas sit until they become uncomfortable. Tracks stretch without payoff, building anxiety instead of release. It feels closer to being trapped inside a machine than being entertained by one. Jake Duzsik’s vocals stay distant, almost drained of emotion, but that’s where they hit hardest. He never sounds like he’s performing at you—more like he’s caught in the same system, relaying information from somewhere deeper inside it. When melody does appear, it feels fragile, like it might collapse if you focus on it too hard.
Lyrically, CONFLICT DLC doesn’t spell anything out. It works in fragments, half-statements, and repetition. Nothing feels explained, and nothing feels resolved. The words exist the same way everything else on the album does—as another layer of noise, another piece of tension.
The title fits perfectly. “DLC” suggests something optional, something you choose to add. But the conflict here doesn’t feel optional at all. It feels baked in. Like something that was always running in the background, whether you noticed it or not.
Production-wise, the album is ugly in a very controlled way. Distortion is everywhere, but it’s never sloppy. Every sound feels deliberate, like it’s been pushed just far enough without breaking completely. The low end hums constantly, creating this sense of unease that never really lets up.
Compared to earlier HEALTH releases, CONFLICT DLC feels more focused and less interested in grabbing you immediately. There are no big moments meant to hook you. The album works slowly, almost stubbornly, and rewards repeat listens by revealing small shifts instead of big statements.
This isn’t an album about escape or release. It doesn’t offer clarity or comfort. It just reflects the tension back at you and lets it sit there. That’s what makes it effective.
CONFLICT DLC feels like HEALTH at their most honest—quietly aggressive, emotionally numb, and completely uninterested in making things easier for the listener. It’s not meant to be digested quickly. It’s meant to linger, irritate, and stay with you longer than you’d like.