Magdalena Bay - "Imaginal Disk" (2024)

I've got to thank Tiktok for this one. I knew absolutely nothing about the synth pop duo prior to the release of this record (their second), and immediately upon release my Tiktok was filled up with videos claiming it to be the best record of the year. And as I have been on a bit of a pop-girl kick this year (BRAT review will be coming at some point, and maybe a few others if I get time), I decided to check this out. I am so glad I did, as I can totally see where all those Tiktoks were coming from and it probably would've been my favourite record this year if the new Cure album that has just come out didn't turn out as well as it has.

The sound of Imaginal Disk is a kaleidoscopic collage of early 00's synth pop and dance pop, indietronica, psych pop and progressive pop, and even a bit of chillwave and late 90's female singer/songwriters. It is such a tightly written and amazingly produced record. Every track has so much attention to detail, little quirks, and leftfield switch-ups or unique progressions that makes the record envelop you, as you get lost in the sound. The tracks seamlessly flow into each other, making the album feel like a real cinematic journey over its 53min runtime.

Lyrically and thematically, the record is just as ambitious, exploring the ideas of an idealised 'perfect' sense of self and struggle between chasing the idea that we have to be perfect to be happy (or to please others) and forging your own unique path where you can be fulfilled without fitting neatly into a predefined box. Going hand in hand with this is a lot of lyrical focus on the difficulty discerning between 'true love' and love and companionship out of convivence and comfort and whether the former is actually real and obtainable, and the latter inauthentic and ultimately unfulfilling. These ideas are left open ended, which I think really adds to the experience of the record as if its almost trying to get you to ponder these concepts yourself as opposed to just throwing them at you as a definitive worldview. They're also not really obvious on first listen, rather layered into the subtext, which is giving the record huge replay value for me.

The first leg of the record is phenomenal, opening with building opener She Looked Like Me!. The first half of the song builds up with glitchy synths and booming drums, before switching up into a tension building second half with triumphant horns. The lyrics depict a strange encounter with the protagonists doppleganger, and the existential reflection on ones own uniqueness and identity. This leads into the woozy and groovy Killing Time, which explores the themes of 'killing time' and constantly putting of dreams and waiting for the ideal moment. The dreamy Enya-sounding True Blue Interlude segues this into the album's lead single, Image. The song is an absolute banger of an alt-dance tune with an infectious groove and Mica Tenebaum's silky smooth vocals gliding above the beat. "Ooooh my God, Make me in your image" is the leading hook and damn it sounds so sexy. Death & Romance follows straight after and somehow tops Image. The house-esque staccato piano hits, spacy synths and Mica's vocals sounding like Kylie give the song a very 00s dance-pop feel. The track just keeps ascending and ascending to this euphoric place - which juxtaposes the ecstatic feel against some quite heavy lyrics pondering whether there is anything more to life beyond the songs title. This run comes to a close with Fear, Sex, which serves as an outro to Death & Romance that unwinds the beat and reworks it into something more sinister as the driving forces of death and romance are presented under a different light - being fear and sex.

Other highlights include the sombre and sprawling ballad, Watching T.V. (a track about the prevailing fear during the 2000's that watching too much T.V is mentally damaging and also the idea of losing yourself in the screen while avoiding reality) and the epic Tunnel Vision. The song starts out as quite a stripped back synth pop song with chiming synths, before the protagonist realises that they are developing tunnel vision in their life and that they need to get out. At this point the song flips on its head for a hypnotic space rock outro. The thick, heavy base and skittering, lazer-like effects sound so sinister and menacing. This is followed by the super light and breezy synth funk jam, Love Is Everywhere, a perfect antidote to the darker middle section of the record of the record that has preceded it. The bombastic dance pop vibes return with the very in your face That's My Floor, a track all about taking life by the scruff of it's neck and making it your dancefloor. It's kinda garish but in the best way, with a sitar middle section and a scratchy funk-rock guitar outro. Similarly, Cry for Me is a straight up throwback to the groovey Nu-Disco of the early 00's and is great fun.

The record closes with Angel on a Satellite and The Ballad of Matt & Mica. Angel on a Satellite strips out all the synths for an approach akin to late 90's pop-leaning singer / songwriters. The song is a nice change of pace for the record and really highlights the emotionality of the lyrics of trying to forge your own path against the metaphysical will of an 'angel on a satellite' above you. All of the records themes are tied up and brought into the real world with The Ballad of Matt & Mica, a joyous ode to the duo, their friendship and their pursuit of the dreams over a pre-determined 'easy life'.

What I truely admire about Imaginal Disk, is that as heavy and thoughtful the lyrics and themes of the record, it is so thoroughly enjoyable and uplifting. Literally every time I put it on, I come away in a better mood than when I started. That is on top of how intricate and well constructed it is, alongside that it is damn catchy. I'm so glad that I've been turned onto Magdalena Bay because this album is such a refreshing and unique experience.

Top Tracks: She Looked Like Me!, Killing Time, True Blue Interlude, Image, Death & Romance, Fear, Sex, Watching T.V., Tunnel Vision, Love Is Everywhere, That's My Floor, Cry For Me, Angel on a Satellite, The Ballad of Matt & Mica.

9/10

Everything Everything - "Mountainhead" (2024)

EE's last record, 2022's Raw Data Feel, never really clicked with me despite generally being critically acclaimed and viewed as something fresh and new for the band by many. It stripped away a lot of organic grooves and progressive, linear song structures that characterised a lot of the bands older work, and replaced them with a much more rigid synth pop aesthetic and a smattering of glitch pop and alt dance stylings that felt more gimmicky than genuinely inventive. Similarly the core lyrical concept of the record focusing around AI generated lyrics and the messy, half formed narrative also came across rather gimmicky and almost a self-parody of the band's usual eccentric 'logical extremes' writing style. 

Thankfully, Mountainhead is a return to form for the band, returning to a lot of the kinetic grooves and colourful sound pallets (with that menacing and uneasy undertone) that put the band on the map. I'd say its the closest sounding thing the band has made to their magnum opus, Get To Heaven, in the years since. The record, much like RDF, has a core concept and a semi-linear narrative; however it is much more clearly defined and thoroughly explored. The lead single, Cold Reactor, is essentially the blurb for the world the band has created on Mountainhead and captures the mood and tone of the record effortlessly. Mountainhead is a world where people try and climb the titular mountain by digging deep into the earth for materials to ascend, growing the mountain ever larger and the pit ever deeper. At the top sits only a mirror for those who mange to climb to the top, and at the bottom of the pit roams a giant golden serpent ready to consume those who fall too far in. Quite an obvious allegory for the modern capitalist world, but one that allows for some pretty evocative imagery and for the band's eccentricities to really flourish. Cold Reactor as a song is quite a straightforward driving new wave tune, but probably the bands best crack at that style, with dense lyrics that evoke strong feelings of loneliness and a desire for connection. 

Wild Guess opens up the record in quite a ballsy way, with a minute and a half driving, fuzzed out guitar solo, before Jonathon Higg's vocals come swooning in like some deranged salesman, with rhetorical questions and telling us "this will be the most important thing you'll ever buy from us". It's not clearly painted out for us, but my interpretation of the song is that it is from the perspective of one of the 'Hellcat priests' within the lore of the album, a religious organisation who's end goal is to grow the mountain and keep believing in the cycle and that one day they will make it to the top themselves.

The second single, The Mad Stone, is more obviously from this perspective, and is sonically probably the most out there on the record. The track bounces between these weird 'plink plonky' verses and these massive multi-tracked choruses, it sounds like some deranged cult chant.

The rest of the first half is really consistent as well. The End of the Contender is quite a stark pop song that really focuses on the lyrics inspired by an incident where some armature boxer from the 70's got in a road rage incident and was acting as if he was some sort of celebrity, even though the other person had no idea who they were. The pulsating bass heavy groove and hazy guitars of Buddy, Come Over is very reminiscent of A Fever Dream, and the ear-catching lyric of "Elvis sitting dead on the toilet" really draws you into the moody and sinister atmosphere of the song. The snappy dance beat R U Happy? reminds me of what the band were trying to go for RDF, however feels much more natural and less gimmicky here, without the entire kitchen sink thrown in. TV Dog rounds out the first half with a simple string laden cut that we haven't really seen from the band since Arc. The weird reversed backing vocals sound really sinister and ominous.

While the first half is probably the most consistent 30 mins of music the group has made since Get To Heaven, the band settles into more predictable pop song writing into the second half, which makes the record feel a little lopsided overall. The skittering percussion and deep bass of Canary are juxtaposed against the delicate vocals and woozy lead guitar, which really sells the 'canary in the coal mine' themes of the song. Don't Ask Me To Beg features some really prominent vocal melodies set against a meaty alt dance groove. Dagger's Edge is the closest the record comes to that pure batshit energy of the likes of Blast Doors or Ivory Tower, but is honestly quite reserved in comparison. The song acts as sort of the turning point of the albums themes, from the perspective of someone who has made it to the top of the mountain, but is still not content, watching over his shoulder for people in this dog-eat-dog world and realising he could fall off the 'dagger's edge' at any time. It is the moment where the social commentary on the record turns to the listener and essentially tells us that the game of life presented through the mountain is ultimately all consuming and will never leave you fulfilled.

It does make the tone of the closing two tracks rather nihilistic and gives no real satisfying conclusion the the album. They're both quiet and reflective, and on their own are decent songs, but the placement as the album's final impression is quite unsatisfying. Following the revelations of Dagger's Edge, City Song is from the perspective of someone stuck in the corporate 9-5 where no-one in their company even knows their name. It is very OK Computer, but very mid-point OK Computer, before the rejection of that way of life on the last two songs of the album (Lucky and The Tourist). Everything Everything know this too, as on Get To Heaven, the insanity of that album was rejected in the last two songs, offering an alternative - hope. I do understand the creative decision behind this, its probably more realistic to say that there is no real escape from the mountain, but its certainly not a satisfying conclusion to the record and sours the experience overall; especially as Dagger's Edge was building towards that and it feels like a bait and switch.

Mountainhead has a lot going for it, the concept and narrative are solid and inventive, it features the return of the band's more progressive and challenging song writing. I just wish it went a little further, as the second half is nowhere near as ambitious as the first, and ended in a more satisfying way. But as it stands, it is a return to form that is certainly better than the band's last couple of records.

Top Tracks: Wild Guess, The End of the Contender, Cold Reactor, Buddy, Come Over, Mad Stone, TV Dog, Don't Ask Me To Beg, Dagger's Edge

7/10

Everything Everything - "Raw Data Feel" (2022)

With touring of their last record, 2020's Re-Animator, put on hold due to the pandemic, Everything Everything went straight back into the studio to record a new project. While an enjoyable album for me, that record felt like it wasn't much of a step forward for the band compared to their previous four albums for many (a sentiment I can certainly agree with). So the band made a conscious effort to take a new direction with Raw Data Feel both lyrically and sonically. Re-Animator somewhat shifted lyrically to more human, 'emotional' topics than the band's usual socio-political critiques; however did so in quite broad strokes. Raw Data Feel doubles down in this direction, telling more personal stories around the the theme of human responses to trauma. Furthermore, Jonathon Higgs generated a portion of the lyrics using AI by feeding a bot he named Kevin 4chan threads, LinkedIn T&Cs and the whole of Beowulf.

An interesting idea for sure, however it doesn't quite come together for me. Lyrically, the album feels like a bit of a mess and the AI lyrics don't help. The band are known for their eccentric and sometimes cryptic word barrages, but this is the first time for me they seem like they might not have much meaning behind them beyond just being ridiculous for the sake of it. For example, the hook of Pizza Boy is "I'll have a Coke, I'll have a Pepsi now". It is one of the lyrics revealed to be generated from the AI, and the on the nose commentary on consumerism and choice paralysis is 1) nowhere near as deep as it thinks it is, 2) not all that catchy. I'm not going to sing along to that, it sounds stupid, not quirky and eccentric. There is a running theme of the main character wanting to offload his trauma onto a computer, and Kevin is one of several recurring characters in the record, but it isn't clear whether Kevin is the main character or the robot companion. The same goes for Jennifer and The Goatman, how these characters fit in and relate to each other is thinly sketched and unclear. It's an album that appears to have some kind of linear narrative, but when you try and look for it you can't make head or tale of it. 

Similarly, Higgs' lyrics have always had the tendency to descend into generalisations as he focuses more on the feeling created by something rather than the thing or event itself; but due to the increased intimacy of Raw Data Feel, the use of "it" and "thing" is far more common on here than any of their previous releases and so in places does feel underwritten. That being said, the record works so much better if taken on the broader strokes much like the rest of their work. Teletype and I Want A Love Like This are about trying to bury yourself in someone else to avoid your own demons, Bad Friday is about excessive partying, Shark Week is about narcissism and control as coping mechanisms, HEX delves deep into the pits of internet forums, and Jennifer is about straight up escaping a mentally damaging situation or environment.

On a musical level, the band also make a lot of changes, and as a result the album feels all over the place. The band have done away with the majority of the prog-pop and art rock elements of their sound, delving deeper into their synth pop and electronic tendencies. What results is a much more synthetic and ridged sounding album, but with much more simple poppy song progressions. The band still sound as eccentric as they always did, but it feels way more surface level with booming and blown out synths and drums, jarring dynamic changes and instrumental switch ups; rather than the complex grooves and linear builds of the band's earlier records. 

The sequencing and pacing also seems so weird. The first four tracks are the four singles, and are all glitchy alt dance tunes, but after this point the style is dropped and doesn't return again. The fifth track, Jennifer, is a driving Killer's-esque heartland rock song, however Higg's voice is far less suited for this kind of earnest delivery than the likes of Brandon Flowers. It's a shame because the song itself is one of the strongest written on the record. Leviathan is the standard Radiohead inspired slow burn that each EE album has, although it is five and a half minutes long and doesn't do anything really to justify its length. Every EE album also has one track that is the most over the top, balls to the wall song that the band can possibly come up with about 2/3 of the way through the record. Raw Data Feel has not one, but three; and they all sit one after another slap bang in the middle of the runtime. Shark Week is easily my favourite of the three, with its snappy beat and catchy vocal melodies. Cut Up! and HEX, however veer just slightly over the edge from over the top to obnoxious. Cut Up! has a really tacky instrumental that sounds like a bad imitation of Depeche Mode's Master and Servant and Higg's repetitive staccato vocals get really grating. I like the sinister lyrics and booming, bassy verses of HEX, but the chorus feels underwhelming and I can't help but feel like the band has covered the idea of internet radicalisation enough times at this point and far better in the past (e.g. Zero Pharaoh or Ivory Tower).

The record is just a little too long and bloated, and the odd blocking of similar tracks together make it feel disjointed. Metroland Is Burning and My Computer just feel unnecessary. By the time the record limps into it's final leg I struggle to care about the supposed emotional arc songs like Kevin's Car and Born Under A Meteor are supposed to provide to the narrative. The closer does pull me back in to an extent. Titled Software Greatman, it plays more into the existentialism of the idea about offloading your emotions onto a machine and the fact that you can never be truly 'over' something traumatic as it becomes a part of your identity. "I don't know how to get over this thing, 'cause it's always there" Higgs sings and it certainly hits a lot harder than the deliberately deflective lyrics earlier on in the record.

Raw Data Feel is a messy album with a half formed concept. But the fact that it is so overstuffed means with every moment it is trying something new. It's never boring, even if the ideas don't always land. EE are still a band that don't really sound like anyone else. I commend the ambition, and I certainly prefer a miss-fired experiment to something uninspired. If anything, it has given me a greater appreciation for the tight math rock grooves and explosive choruses of group's debut, which is an album that has never truly clicked for me until now.

Top Tracks: I Want A Love Like This, Shark Week, Software Greatman

6/10

Everything Everything - "RE-ANIMATOR" (2020)

 

Everything Everything have grown to be one of my favourite bands of the 2010s. Their maximalist and progressive approach to making pop and rock music has consistently produced wholly enjoyable albums, with 2015's basically flawless Get To Heaven being being the crowning jewel in their discography. The accompaniment of Jonathon Higgs' socio-political lyrics taken to their logical extremes, and super eccentric instrumentation and hooks make the band so ear grabbing to me. However, the band has taken a slight change of course with their 5th record that does make it stand out on it's own in their collection.

The band has made a deliberate attempt to shift their lyrical focus away from politics and society, towards the more abstract ideas surrounding the human condition: the development of consciousness, ideas of supernatural fear, enemies, desire, and tribalism. The opening lyric is "I did what anybody would that day, No speechless gibbon in the road, Not me" and sets up the tone of the record perfectly. To accompany the more cerebral themes, the instrumentation has been toned down. These tracks are far less over the top and manic, and feel simpler and more stark. I understand that it will be a turn off to some fans, as singing along to some batshit lyrics to a super fun poppy groove is a big part of the band's appeal; and even the singles from the record aren't particularly catchy in that way. But for me, the more minimalist approach is a nice change of pace that allows the more conceptual themes room to breathe and sink in.

The opener, Lost Powers, sounds like the grand awakening the opening lyric suggests. The simple chiming guitar and drums slowly give way to more elaborate instrumentation. It sounds like some kind of daybreak as the world slowly becomes more illuminated. Big Climb tackles the uncontrollable desire for excess that seems to drive so many people, backed by a more aggressive glitchy beat and harsher more staccato vocals from Higgs. It Was A Monstering and Moonlight are about as straight up Radiohead-worship as the band has ever been (and the last record, A Fever Dream, had some very Radiohead-y moments), and the first of those is actually a pretty good attempt. The krautrock-ian, rigid drums and dark, hollow guitar tones would fit in perfectly on Amnesiac. Higgs even does a really good Thom Yorke impersonation. The descending guitar lines and sinister hook melody are really good. I especially like the switched up bridge of the track. It's a really well constructed song, even if it's influences are obvious. Moonlight, on the other hand calls back to some of the more serene Radiohead ballads such as Nude. Its not bad, but doesn't quite come together into something particularly distinct for me.

The middle of the record is where it goes on its biggest run, starting with the single Arch Enemy. This track is about as close as the record comes to the band's big pop singles of the past, with its squelchy synth-funk groove and bizarre lyrics comparing an enemy to a fatberg that attaches itself to you. It is the wackiest and most fun song on the album. Lord of the Trapdoor focuses around the ideas of tribalism and 'otherness', built around a really simple and stripped back beat and stark, chiming guitar which just descends into a ferocious, heavily distorted guitar solo that tears up the back half of the song as the track falls into madness. The beat on the following song, Black Hyena, is this super snappy and prangy loop that sounds like something you'd find on a Massive Attack album which gives the song a unique flavour within the EE discography. The lyrics are really sinister, seemingly alluding to personality changes following perhaps brain damage, or maybe just a traumatic event in general - they're pretty abstract.

However, RE-ANIMATOR is certainly the least consistent record since the group's debut. Early on in the record, the single Planets is the first sign of trouble. The track is perfectly listenable, but feels like a one trick pony with its long, slow-burn verses that slowly build up through the chorus towards a spiralling post-chorus synth line. It's the only thing the track has up it's sleeve and it gets old fast. Towards the end of the album, the songs In Birdsong and The Actor also have some crippling flaws that ruin the entire tracks for me. In Birdsong is a linear, building ballad that sounds ethereal and profound; and the track at the core of it is fairly good. But as the track builds in intensity and volume, the entire mix becomes more and more tinny and compressed. It's obviously an intentional artistic choice, but it sounds really unbearable. Likewise, on The Actor, the group go so completely overboard on the reversed vocal effects that it's incredibly distracting and kills any enjoyment I might've got from an already not that impressive song.

The band do save the best cut on the record for last, being the blistering new wave throwback of Violent Sun. The pummelling drums, whining guitar leads, and overwhelming vocal delivery just commands you to feel something. It's really good, and really powerful with the simple message of  'it's okay to feel like you don't understand, or that the world is overwhelmingly confusing and scary'.

RE-ANIMATOR is a good album, if slightly underwhelming when compared to Arc, A Fever Dream, and especially Get To Heaven. I appreciate that the band took risks with their sound, and when the play out, they result in some really good songs. It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea, especially if you came to the band for their whacky, up-tempo singles. It's certainly an album which grew on me with time though, so don't just write it off on first listen.

Top Tracks: Lost Powers, It Was A Monstering, Arch Enemy, Lord Of The Trapdoor, Black Hyena, Violent Sun

7/10

Glass Animals - "Dreamland" (2020)

Glass Animals first two albums were pretty different, but equally great records that mixed up a lot of different sounds and styles including art pop, psychedelia, R&B and indietronica. However since the release of How To Be A Human Being in 2016, the band's drummer Joe Seaward was involved in a serious cycling accident and suffered brain damage, causing the band to go on hiatus while he recovered. Thankfully he has made a full recovery, and the whole experience left frontman Dave Bayley wanting to create a more personal album for their next release, as opposed to the eccentric character studies of HTBAHB.

This shift in lyrical content has also been accompanied by a shift in sound as well. The R&B elements of their sound take the centre stage here, with the psychedelic and art pop tendencies nowhere to be found. These R&B influences have been augmented with more than a handful of trap beats and a general washed-out, hazy dream pop atmosphere. I understand that this an attempt to match the dreamy nostalgia of the lyrical content, and that the more eccentric elements of the band's sound in the past would not have fit. However the album doesn't really sound dreamy, it sounds flat and sedated. This is part due to how slickly produced it is, but mostly due to the generic and predictable songwriting on both fronts - lyrically and musically.

Nearly every beat and groove on this record feels like I've heard it before in some generic pop tune on the radio in the past two or three years. It's the same thing with the hooks, melodies and chord progressions. It's almost as if the band was aiming for that market of boring, meaningless, 'vibey' pop songs that leave no impact and say nothing. The title track opens up the record with the most generic of Ibiza styled piano riff's before Bayley comes in with the most repetitive of vocal melodies, all filtered through so much reverb and echo it just sounds like slush. That's literally all the song does for three and a half minutes. The following track, Tangerine, sounds like Bayley heard Childish Gambino's Feels Like Summer, tried to make it, and ended up making something that sounds enough like it for it to be noticeable, but with a melody and groove so repetitive it fails miserably at recreating that euphoric summery vibe. It's All So Incredibly Loud is a linear track that is supposed to build and build throughout until the climax at the end of the song. However, the chord progression and synth crescendo at the of the song sound like any summer club track you'd here over the past 4 or 5 years; even if the percussion rhythm at the base of the track is decent.

Lyrically the album just doesn't work either. It's supposed to be about Bayley's experiences growing up - so it's a coming of age story. But it isn't; it's just a bunch of references to things from the late 90s / early 2000s (Space Ghost Coast To Coast is basically just a list of early 00s video games), and generic 'vibey' party songs about partying and sex and booze. There's no story here, no arc. Bayley is telling us nothing about himself, and filling in the gaps with his usual references to fruit and other random things. This fractured, whacky lyrical style worked on HTBAHB when he was turning it up to 11 and creating these incredibly eccentric character studies. On Dreamland, it seems like he doesn't want to turn himself into a caricature like this, but toning down the eccentricity just makes obvious Bayley's lyrical shortcomings.

While the majority of the record, while incredibly dull and boring, is inoffensively bland; there are a handful of real stinkers in here. Tokyo Drifting features Bayley's absolutely terrible attempt at trap rapping, and his vocals are filtered with so many effects that it genuinely sounds horrible. Luckily he hands the reigns over to Denzel Curry half way through, and Denzel being an incredibly talented rapper almost saves the track (but not quite). Melon And The Coconut personifies a fracturing relationship as these two fruit talking to each other, and it as stupid as it sounds. Bayley's vocals are filtered through the worst auto-tune imaginable, and there's a bluesy guitar part in the track that feels like its been put through the same awful effects. Waterfalls Coming Out Your Mouth obsession with sex really rubs the wrong way, I think due to it trying so hard to come across dirty and edgy while still attempting to be random and quirky. There's a lyric about gummy bears in this track, and gummy bears are not sexy, and trying to make them sound it comes across really weird and creepy. The track is also awfully mixed. Every part of the song is either too loud or too quiet at various points, but the dynamic is constantly shifting and it sounds terrible.

There are a couple of tracks that do feel fairly decent, although they would easily be some of the weakest tracks if they appeared on the group's first two records. Hot Sugar is built on the same jazzy sample as Loyle Carner's You Don't Know from last year, and it gives the song more of a sense of genuine coolness and actual life to it, and the vocal melody isn't too bad either. However if I think about the track too much, all I can think of is that if I like the song because of the sample and You Don't Know uses the sample better, why aren't I listing to that instead? Your Love (Deja Vu) is easily the best track here. The beat and bass groove on the track give it the greatest sense of urgency and momentum of any of the songs, and Bayley's vocals sound sensual and impactful. And the melody is actually catchy and not repetitive.

This record is one of those ones that feels so much longer than it is, by virtue of it being so repetitive and boring. I could not tell any of tracks from the last leg of the record apart from each other, because they all sound the same, and all sound so weak and unmemorable. Furthermore, there are enough stinkers on here for me to not ever want to come back to it. I find it so perplexing that the band threw out everything that made their first two records really interesting and fun, and replaced it with a sound that is already done to death, that they aren't even doing to a degree of any quality. This is not a good album and I'm really disappointed by it.

Top Track: Your Love (Deja Vu)

3/10

Glass Animals - "How To Be A Human Being" (2016)

I've been listening to Glass Animal's debut album, Zaba, for a few years now. The groups woozy psychedelic pop has a humid, tropical atmosphere which makes it perfect for hot summer evenings. With the group releasing new music, I have finally got round to checking out their follow-up, 2016's How To Be A Human Being. The core of the band's sound is still here (the glossy, multilayered production, Dave Bailey's sensual falsetto vocals), but it has been expanded upon with more ambitious elements and lyrical concepts.

Each of the tracks on How To Be A Human Being focuses on a different character, all inspired by people the group met while touring Zaba. We take a look inside the heads of these characters, with their inner monologues accentuated and absurd-ified. It reminds me of the writing style in fellow indietronica band Everything Everything's work. The lyrics here are not as socio-politically charged or as taken to the extreme as EE, but do evoke the same feelings of silly absurdity tinged by a genuine sense of believability.

The record opens on an incredibly bombastic, anthemic note with Life Itself. This track is built around groovy afrobeat rhythm, and revolves around this loser like character who's mother is disappointed in his life choices. It explodes into a massive chorus with blaring synths and distorted horns, where the character seemingly doesn't care. It creates a weird juxtaposition, as the music sounds like your supposed to root for this character, yet the lyrics clearly describe why your not supposed to. Youth carries on this anthemic atmosphere, although it isn't quite as in your face. The track is a typical coming of age story about growing up. It hits all the right notes, and the silky smooth chorus is irresistible.

Season 2 Episode 3 is more stripped back than the first two tracks. There's a rolling hi-hat beat and midi-esque, chip tune sounding synthesizers. It gives the track a retro video game feel, and even samples sounds from Super Mario Brothers. The song is about people who lounge around all day binge watching TV, and the music really fits the vibe. It's all very chilled. The  majority of Mama's Gun is a tense build up with a jangly piano motif and wondrous sounding woodwind. Eventually some choral backing vocals come in just before the track gently crescendos. All that tension feels like it needs a bigger payoff, which keeps the eery vibe of the song intact right towards the end. 

While the album doesn't quite get as festival ready as the opening tracks, it still has some massive sounding songs. Pork Soda has the excellent hook of "Pineapples are in my head, I've got nobody cause I'm braindead" and the track just builds up the layers more and more until track feels like it genuinely could not sound any more full. Take A Slice has a really fuzzed out, bluesy guitar and a woozey, sensual vocal melody. It sounds like modern Tame Impala and Like Clockwork... era Queens Of The Stone Age smashed together, and is absolutely mental and surprisingly works. Blaring horns and staccato piano come in when the chorus hits, all accumulating in the guitar solo outro that is just so much noise but brilliant.

The album sags just a little in the middle. Cane Shuga is perfectly fine but doesn't really do much for me, and [Premade Sandwiches] is one of many tracks that try to be Fitter Happier. It's still one of the better imitators, but I don't really know why artists try to go for that idea - because no one ever seems to match Fitter Happier's balance between irony and paranoia. The Other Side Of Paradise's chorus features this very 2010s, post-dubstep, bass drop. It is pretty tastefully done here, but it does make the track already seem a bit dated - and is the only point where the album seems to be chasing the trends of the time.

These weaker moments are still well done, their ideas don't quite connect with me like the rest of the track list. So despite the ambition here, I'd say I like it about the same as Zaba. Both are great albums, with different qualities. Zaba goes for a more consistent tone and vibe; whereas HTBAHB is more ambitious and higher highs, but has a few moments that don't hit like the rest of the record. I'm really quite interested in what the group do for album 3 now, although the singles released so far haven't really landed with me the way these two records have.

Top Tracks: Life Itself, Youth, Season 2 Episode 3, Pork Soda, Take A Slice

8/10