Inside of Emptiness

Inside of Emptiness was the fourth album released in John Frusciante’s six-part series, which began with The Will to Death in June 2004. The series additionally includes Curtains, DC EP, A Sphere in the Heart of Silence, and Automatic Writing – the debut album from Frusciante’s short-lived band, Ataxia.

Frusciante describes Inside of Emptiness as noisy work, driven by distortion and static in the higher frequencies, with an even more extreme sonic posture than the dense atmosphere of the Ataxia album.

It’s really powerful, but in a gentle way. There’s a soothing quality. It has hard things on it, and even the soft things have a heaviness to them. The song “Scratches” is emotionally heavy to me, even though it’s not distorted guitars and bashing drums. There’s another song about a couple’s baby dying. There’s a lot of spontaneity and recklessness and not giving a fuck.

The album features guest contributions from Mars Volta guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López, and frequent collaborator Josh Klinghoffer.