A Welcome Return.
Porter Robinson, EDM producer who broke into the scene due to his album 'Worlds' as well as that single 'Shelter' with his fellow friend Madeon that amassed a lot of popularity in the music as well as the anime scene. I only knew of him because of said single, so I did check out that debut album after finding myself hyped for the sophomore album thanks to the singles that ranged from being good to great. While I was rather underwhelmed with his debut, waiting for around 7 years to hear the new singles made me cross my fingers that this will be great.
And alright, this is pretty good, there are bundles of improvement from his debut album, but up till now I'm still quite struggling with what's keeping me from calling this AOTY material.
I may as well start with the production and instrumental, because yes, the EDM-adjacent tones are still here, but they are now nestled with these warm, organic instruments such as strings and pianos. Of course, there are still there crackles and androgynous vocal effects to accentuate this meditative but unstable mood of the album. I love the calming tones and melodies of 'Likelike' and 'Wind Tempos' (the Masakatsu Takagi influence is extremely clear here), the acoustic swell and melodic warmth of 'Blossom', the balanced EDM and acoustic touches of 'Mirror', 'Something Comforting', and 'Trying to Feel Alive', and the choppy, and bass-y EDM bangers such as 'Get Your Wish', and 'Musician'.
But then, comes the double-edged production choices that pulled things away from me. the odd synth on the intro of 'Look at the Sky' paired with the flimsy EDM bass and shrilled vocal filter, the choppy filtered vocals on the end of 'Wind Tempos' that just dampened the momentum of that song, the weirdly programmed guitar and vocal mixing on 'do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do', the overly chopped up sounds on 'Dullscythe', the messiness of 'Mother' that undercuts the topic of the song, and 'Unfold' with the vocals breaking its tipping point, which just sounds really blaring over the instrumental that it's trying to elevate.
And yeah, I think the structure of this album quite killed it for me, where it can kill the momentum with the songs that are either EDM or Acoustic heavy, or a balance of both. And I think that the album could need some trimming, especially to some tracks that can lose its welcome with the 5+ minute length.
And comes to the lyrics, which I feel is most likely the strongest point here. The album essentially details Porter Robinson's struggles with creating music after he stopped for 7 years after having frustrations with his success in his music, writing and failing to make new songs, and especially the struggles that he had when his little brother was diagnosed for cancer. And the emotions are certainly here, the self-doubt that he might not create something good, the self-introspection of his success and giving odes to the people that he loved, and just the overall healing from his past and looking forward to his future through the music he creates, and yeah, it's quite powerful.
Overall, this might be that album that I might still struggle on what is it that works and not works for me, but with the songs being instrumentally rich, melodically strong, and lyrically powerful.
Yeah, this is still pretty good, it might grow on me in some months after, but for now, it's great, but not as much as the other great albums that I've heard this year.
Favorite Tracks: Mirror, Blossom, Something Comforting, Wind Tempos, Sweet Time, Musician, Get Your Wish
Least Favorite Track: Unfold