The Anxious Catharsis of I Love It Here, I Have Everything I Need, and All My Friends Love Me

Ben Heinz has had a pretty big year. Alongside Susie Hanrahan, he is one half of the noise-pop duo Shinemachine who dropped their debut self-titled album earlier in the spring, a collection of fast-paced, eclectic noise-pop tracks that are sure to throw you for a loop with how chaotic they can get. At the tail-end of October, Heinz released a solo project under the name Floridian Homicide Unit – his second solo album under the name. Those headed into this solo effort from Heinz expecting something as abrasive and dizzying as the Shinemachine record are in for a surprise. Sure, many of the key aspects of the duo’s sound are here, like the wild synths and oppressive production, but this record removes a lot of the aggressive industrial aspects in favor of more fuzzy indietronica. This makes for a record that is just as immersive, but with a different tone entirely. It speaks to Heinz’s talents as a producer with how well he acclimates to these tone shifts while still holding on to what makes his production so unique.

I Love It Here, I Have Everything I Need, and All My Friends Love Me has such a strong atmosphere. Heinz creates the perfect soundscape to explore themes of alienation and unraveling in front of everyone you love, all while trying to downplay these feelings until they consume you. The lo-fi production paired with ambitious songwriting choices across the album creates this really disorienting effect. Heinz’s production is eclectic by nature, and many of the tracks here feel restrained like they could go to much greater heights, yet they’re anchored by the same emotions informing the record. The anxious, sometimes even misanthropic feelings he conveys are often betrayed by the subtle whimsy present in the album’s production and instrumentation. For example, the wave-like synths and handclaps accompanying the merry-go-round chorus on “Paperback Nation” are reminiscent of some bright and colorful alternative dance tracks. However, there’s still that looming melancholy underneath it all. 

There’s an uneasy balance of cynicism and optimism present in these songs, making them just as interesting as they are enjoyable – and they are very enjoyable. The hooks and melodies on this album are so catchy they get hardwired into your brain. It’s so easy to sink into the low, rumbling groove of “Stabbed to Death 1,000,000 Times,” even with how bleak the lyrics are. He sings in an electronic haze, “You can kick me in the head / And I don’t think I’ll end up dead” – it’s kind of morbid, but you can’t help but bounce along to it. Or the stomping hoedown detour that is “W.L. (Squaredance),” which shouldn’t work as well as it does. Country-tinged indietronica wasn’t something that I knew I needed until I heard this record. Perhaps it’s because I relate to the record's themes of detachment, inadequacy, and the general anxiety surrounding the place you call home and the role you occupy within it, but I just find these songs so easy to connect with. In any case, it’s hard not to get entranced by this album. The sounds here are so hypnotic and engaging that it makes the album feel like half of its runtime.

The album's centerpiece is undoubtedly the climactic 11-and-a-half-minute “Get a Life” – a song that encapsulates all of Heinz’s strengths as both a songwriter and producer. It’s gripping, the way the song rises and falls, hanging on to every single one of those shifts and refusing to let the listener down for even a second. The bleary sounds make it as disorienting as it is gripping, those distorted synth keys following you through it all. The way the verses in the middle portion of the song slowly intensify is the album’s most captivating moment. His vocals are buried beneath the hazy textures making it hard to discern the song’s lyrics, but that doesn’t dampen the impact of the song at all – I would even argue they intensify it. It’s cathartic, like stepping out in a snowstorm and venting all of your frustrations before eventually returning indoors only to realize nothing has changed. It’s frustrating, but there is some kind of power in those brief moments of relief. The tracks following “Get A Life” sound like that comedown, set apart by smooth synth work and atmospheric sounds before ramping things up again for the hard-hitting finale. “Theme From Last Party Blues” tries to find comfort in resignation, echoing the sentiments of the album’s title underneath staggering swaths of noise.

I Love It Here… is one of those records that simultaneously serves as a bold artistic statement on its own and one that provides a ton of promise for an artist’s future. Whether it be under the Floridian Homicide Unit moniker or with Shinemachine, Ben Heinz’s talents are glaringly apparent. I adore this record. I find myself going back to it over and over again with new songs getting ingrained in my head each time, there’s just something so mesmerizing about it. This album is one of the biggest triumphs in furry music this year, you don’t want to miss out on this.

I Love It Here, I Have Everything I Need, and All My Friends Love Me, by Floridian Homicide Unit

13 track album

Floridian Homicide Unitorange talc

I Love It Here… is available now on Bandcamp and streaming services.