Foals – Holy Fire
British math rockers Foals have spent the last two years studiously tucked away in various recording studios working on their latest record, Holy Fire, stockpiling a variety of sounds once foreign to the band, such as synthesizers, sampled loops and drum machines. As it turns out, that move in a fresh direction is exactly what the group needed.
Holy Fire is Foals’ third studio album, and fans of their previous work will certainly notice a major change in their sound. Gone are the over-analyzed songs full of precise guitar licks leading the way for each track. Instead listeners will find a much more rich and fully realized sound on Holy Fire, applying elements of grunge and pop to the band’s mathematical technical mastery.
The third track, “My Number,” bursts into a poppy dance-groove, challenging the slow build of the album’s previous two tracks. “My Number” uses easily-accessible lyrics about changing one’s number after a breakup, a clear indicator that Foals is no longer the impossible-to-decipher artsy rock band that they once were.
Holy Fire is a wonderfully warm and emotional step forward for Foals, and its soaring instrumentals and vastly-improved vocals will surely launch the band into sold-out arena-headliner status for years to come.
Darwin Deez – Songs For Imaginative People
Known for his quirky persona and curly perm, hipster heart throb and Darwin Deez frontman, Darwin Smith, is a bit of an oddball. His self-titled 2010 debut, Darwin Deez, glistened with indie guitar-pop hits full of catchy hooks and self-aware lyrics rife with both satire and sincerity.
Darwin’s second album, Songs For Imaginative People, unfortunately missed the mark that made his first album so accessibly eccentric.
Most of the tracks on Songs sound great individually, but when put together it becomes surprisingly difficult to digest the barely 40-minute-long sophomore effort by Deez. “All In The Wrist” is the longest and most interesting song on the album, combining clever story-driven lyrics with a calm yet steadily building chord progression that gradually transforms into a series of invigorating guitar solos as Smith’s voice becomes high-pitched and distorted ala trademark Dan Deacon.
Songs is not markedly bad; it’s actually really good at certain points. Songs just suffers from a severe case of Darwin trying way too hard to sound heartfelt, thus killing all the genuine feelings he attempts to instill.
Flume – Flume
The debut self-titled album from steadily upcoming Austrailian producer Harley Streten, a.k.a. Flume, hit shelves in America this week, but chances are good that you have already heard some of his work between his exploding YouTube channel and the extensive blog coverage of this young prodigy. If not, prepare to hear much more of Streten’s work as his tracks inevitably work their way onto every party playlist of 2013.
Flume is every modern music nerd’s wet dream; any notable genre born in the last few years is broken down and synthesized into a beautifully genius mix of songs guaranteed to get even the most diverse group of partiers dancing together.
There are heavy elements of chillwave throughout Flume like the hypnotic “What You Need,” but Streten refuses to completely rely on that blissed-out aesthetic, giving way to hip-hop club bangers like “On Top” and “Warm Thoughts.”
Streten’s passion for music is glaringly obvious, and not just because he has been producing tracks since he was 13-years-old. His passion effortlessly flows from the music itself, an admirable feat that many established producers (looking at you, David Guetta) are altogether incapable of accomplishing themselves.
Flume is an incredibly genuine record that celebrates our differences in musical taste rather than further dividing them, challenging music snobs to shut up and leave their egos at the door.