InHibit: Diving Through the Night for an Infinite View
The word inhibit, in psychology, means to constrain behaviors, usually impulses. Impulses and desires can be dangerous if acted upon, and inhibition often prevents you from flying off the rails in many social situations. Being held back because of how society might judge you, because of what you’ve been taught is wrong to say, can be just as dangerous as the impulses your mind refuses to act upon, if you have something important to say.
InHibit (Noah Roovers) is a newer artist situated in Belgium. Formerly a kart racing driver, legally qualified as a lawyer, with a wide variety of musical inspiration from both British and Belgian roots, it's no wonder a passion and talent for music, and a sense of welcome abnormality surround his musical persona. Currently having two singles out, both of which were released in 2020, both with music videos, I think the title of InHibit plays perfectly into the music he’s presented so far.
“The Quest,” his first single, is a pretty interesting song musically, and an even more interesting song with its music video in mind. It starts with what sounds more like a modern rap-like electronic tone before quickly switching to a more acoustic, 90s sound with the beginning electronics being incorporated into the song as it goes on. The music video is tightly interwoven with the music, which is a creative way to give it even deeper meaning; I appreciate when a music video builds on a song rather than just being a video to go along with it.
Presenting a scarred man waking up, alone in bed, inspecting his facial scars in the mirror. It cuts to a scene of him jumping out the window at night, possibly a contemplation of suicide, before cutting to him going through his day with a smiling mask on. He talks to people and seems happy, the people talking to him and taking pictures with him before he takes off the mask and they become disgusted; even a child is fazed by his disfiguration. In between, we get shots of deep cuts of his name being carved in his back, ending the video with the stylized H of InHibit. In the end, the world spins around him as he goes home and smashes his mirror, just as disgusted with himself as the people around him.
The song is about hypocrisy, the mask the scarred man wears representing a false identity one puts on for society so that they can be accepted, while his real face represents the reality that some refuse to acknowledge. The man in the video goes through an empty life, alone and disingenuous with both themselves and the world. They want to be loved but feel the need to put on a facade to be loved, a hypocritical cycle. His second song gets even deeper into this with the effects of social media, but “The Quest” presents a first excellent look at InHibit writing style, as well as his talent for using visuals (with a lot of great shots, and my favorite aspect, the fantastic make-up work, which I can appreciate a lot as a fan of film make-up effects) to enhance music, reflecting on his reported love for poetry from a young age.
His second single, “Shadows of Fire”, takes a lot of the concepts of the first song (both the video and the lyrics) and builds upon them in a straightforward criticism of the fake personas of social media influencers, inspired by a trip to Vietnam. The video of this song takes on a much more satirical, almost humorous approach than the much darker first video. The absurd, colorful video shows the occupants of the aptly named Hypocrisy Hotel, who all have large social media followings. Each one of them shows their disingenuity, from the man who takes a picture of his food before tasting it and promptly being disgusted with it, to a man proposing to a woman who just sees it as an opportunity for likes, to a family who takes a picture together to be posted, just to be unhappy in each other’s presence after it’s taken. All the children in the video also seem like they’re being dragged in or tempted by “likes,” presented as a drug of sorts, showing that kids getting addicted to internet attention is becoming more and more of an issue.
The instrumentation of this song is fantastic, with a bassline reminiscent of “Another One Bites the Dust,” with a catchy chorus and the same electronic tinges that pull it together as a song perfectly creating the sound of a funky 80s rock song; the contrast between this song’s sound and “The Quest” is great, already showing a wonderful amount of range in compositional style. The music video also presents a lot of great personality, and the talent shown in “The Quest” comes out just as much if not even more in “Shadows of Fire”, showing that he can do subtle atmosphere just as fantastically as absurdist satire.
I look forward to seeing what InHibit does moving forward, with an EP coming in February. Seeing a lot of genuine talent from someone who loves what they do is wonderful, and as someone who shares a love of music and writing, it’s exciting seeing a career like his blossom. InHibit’s music seems to ignore all inhibition and say exactly what he needs to say, and I hope that pattern continues.
Go take a listen to both songs, and look forward to his music in the near future; it’s worth keeping an eye on.
InHibit’s Currently on:
