Rappelant les sonorités fantomatiques de la musique d’Akira Yamaoka, Fever Ray ou Thisquietarmy, QZ45 a composé avec Upheaval la trame sonore d’une période trouble. L’album évolue avec un ton fragile mais articulé. Les morceaux, qui à première écoute paraissent angoissant, se révèlent être riches en nuance comme sur la chanson Seul. The Analog Girl, artiste électronique de Singapour, y chante d’une petite voix chuchotée, donnant un peu de chaleur et d’espoir à travers la distorsion.

It started with the upheaval.
We sat on our beds, and we burnt down the streets.
The world was destroyed. We looked at each other, and we smiled.
Such a devastation was grand and liberating.
When we met again, we were sitting around a coffee table. The couch still smelled of burnt leather, and the roof was gone. Clearly, we could see the sky.
In the end, sometimes we were still anxious. We had left the mushroom building, uncomfortable, and had to start it all over again.
We never were quite sure if we did the right things.