i remember loving this album but i really don't remember loving it this much. i think it'd be easy for someone to be put off this album, purely based on the vocals, and yeah sure i can see if you were on the fence about how u felt about it it would probably sway you. i'm really not normally a fan of them normally either, i feel like the whole shouty, midwest emo vocals are way over done, but brave little abacus just does it so perfectly. this album is so creative and i just love the lofi production (they recorded this album at home as apposed to their previous studio album). maybe i needed to pay more attention to the lyrics and i definitely will and maybe update this post when i relisten with that in mind, but the parts i remember are, for the same reason i love the csh album, just so personal. the songs are relatively basic in terms of chord progression but the where they are mixed just sounds so satisfying. i love the sound of loud, somewhat distorted guitars, there's something so soothing and also really emotional about the way they sound on this album; how do you do that with a guitar tone?!?!? you can tell adam demirjan the vocalist is just pouring every single fiber of his being into the lyrics it feels extremely cathartic and enjoyable to hear him just get everything off his chest as it fills this album. one of the things i love most about this album is also the amount of instruments that are crammed into it, it really refreshes the sound of generic guitar based midwest emo. this album is so great and emotional and bittersweet (as well being that it was their last album ever :0) and i can't recommend enough!
FAVOURITE SONG: (CAN'T CHOOSE) Pile! No Pile! Pile!, A Highway Got Paved Over My Future, I Drive It Getting To School, Aubade (Morning Love Song), Bug Infested Floorboards Can We Please Just Leave This Place Now
honestly i don't know what the rhyme or reason to these posts are now but oh well. this one's kind of obvious if you know me (to the 0 ppl reading this) i've always loved car seat, but for me their best album has always been teens of denial. don't get me wrong i've always loved twin fantasy too but i guess i never got it properly i don't know. but yeah, after sitting down and reading the lyrics while listening to it it really is one of the greatest albums of all time. every lyric really just touches me and its so personal? will intertwines these crazy catchy, anthemic choruses with moments that are so unique and personal to him that surely no one can relate to him but it just works so well ?! the production on the 2018 version is far superior in my opinion, i can completely understand liking the lofi original version and i do respect it but its just not for me! i do tend to love lofi production (i love makeout videotape) and i get it does make it more personal etc but idk it just doesnt do it for me. this album is just the perfect mix of well written and personal lyrics i love this man, i just love how much of himself he puts into this album its so great. i guess its meant to be a breakup album but i find it to be just a whole story that's so intimate of one of will's relationship and then at some point it ends, but i guess it's also about his life at the time too. idk the writing is just so good i feel like im right there with him. this album deserves all the praise it gets, not overrated at all. parts of it are really heart wrenching and you really feel for him, it hurts in the best way possible. i love the themes of co dependency and there's just lots of little details and callbacks to previous songs about how the relationship starts to deteriorate man its just such a real album i don't know how else to put it ! but yeah aside from the songwriting the guitars sound great, it's loud and head bop-py but also has these long passages of story telling. yeah maybe i'll write a full review for this album at some point cuz i really can't say enough about how good it is !
i know i was only really going to do new listens, and yes i have listened to this album before but i only properly GOT IT this month. WOW! this is a perfect pop album. its everything id want from a pop album. its so fun, so catchy, AMAZING production, doesn't take itself too seriously but does what it does with full sincerity. perhaps not as experimental as some of charli's other works but that really doesn't bother me, for some reason i just love the way this album sounds. her songwriting is incredible, the hooks are perfect. this album is just so FUN. not a dull moment on here. really can't wait for her new album this year... the synths are LUSCIOUS. its simple and to the point but sometimes i think that's a good thing! wow i love this record so much! perfect ! pop ! music ! not every album has to be insanely deep and experimental to do what it intends to do well and that's exactly the case with this album. it just finds a way to dig itself into your brain, every song is so catchy and charli's vocals are just unreal! some great features from Caroline Polachek and Rina Sawayama on New Shapes and Beg For You too, they bring their own style to the song and sort of make it their own without taking away from charli's style, how is that possible?! anyway yes i love this album
FAVOURITE SONG: (CAN'T CHOOSE) Lightning, Used to Know Me, Crash, Twice
this album was interesting. there's a lot of atmosphere on here but sometimes maybe it gets lost in that? like a few songs there's this really deep bass and driving drum beat but it indulges in that too much. however, there are quite a few songs that are really beautiful and have great harmonies. really cool electronic sounds all the way through, wouldn't even really know what genre to call it. trip hop maybe? vocals were also really nice when they're doing the harmonies (sounds a little like english teacher weirdly?) but then sometimes it can drag a little. overall a very pleasant listen though!
wow. this album is the most beautiful thing i've heard in a long time. i don't think this is technically my first listen of this album but i don't remember the last time so i don't really count it. there's not a single moment on this album that i didn't have chills; that i didn't feel something deep inside me being moved; that i didn't feel my entire body feeling like it's being cleansed. the songwriting is simple (in terms of the instrumentals) but just so human, there's often not much more than joni's voice and an acoustic guitar, bass and drums, but she really shows that that's all you need. the guitars sound beautiful by themselves and the production is absolutely perfect. this is one of those albums where i'm just so surprised that it came from someone human. there's nothing crazy or over the top about this album it is just so sure of itself and doesn't need to show off; it simply just feels amazing to listen to which is why its kind of hard to analyse. i guess the only thing i haven't talked about is the lyrics and wow, joni really is a poet, it sounds at points like spoken word but her voice is just also so beautiful, she's sort of speak-singing i guess? but yeah anyway this is the best thing i've heard in a long time, this will for sure be on repeat for me for a long time. i love this album. i love joni mitchell. wow.
this is a new little thing i'm writing, honestly only to keep myself entertained. i'm gonna be keeping a little log of every album i listen to this year (not specfically albums that were released this year because i feel like i focused too much on that last year) just to keep an order of what i really enjoyed and what i didn't etc etc ! this is nowhere near the level of my other reviews but more just of like a topster style thing where i can just have a big old list, even if there's not much to say about them i'm still gonna put them here i think. anyway!!!! (lets see if i can keep it up)
first album i'm logging here is Akuma No Uta by Boris
i've literally just finished listening to this album and it honestly blew me away. its so fun and upbeat yet also really drone-y at points, i really thought i wasn't going to enjoy it after listening to introduction but the next song ibitsu totally hooked me. i couldn't stop listening and i'm about to listen to it all over again. the production is so cool because it does exactly what ur brain thinks is gonna happen to music when it goes to loud and just starts breaking but it sounds really authentic and kinda lo-fi? the album cover is a really funny nod to nick drake and i think this album is incredible from what i've heard so far. the bass is so boomy it rattles your brain but there's a lot of classic rock elements to this which make it sound like its ALMOST corny but it never quite reaches that level. then the long song in the middle naki kyoku has lots of improvised elements. very cool album wow ! EXPLOSIVE ! HEAVY ! LOUD !
Björk breathes life and soul into the electronic, infusing an abundance of personality and heart to that which is often criticised of being lifeless on her album Vespertine, mixing both the coldness of electronic and dance music with the more abstract and warm sounds of art pop, perfectly blending them to create an album that is equal parts personal, vulnerable, catchy and experimental, by exposing her inner self and seemingly putting everything of herself into a computer. This album is bursting with life, teeming with personality and takes a hold of you, pulling you into Björk's world to fully understand her way of thinking. The songs are beautifully composed, using the often 'thin' aspects of an electronic or techno sound, but laced with strings, choirs and even samples of orchestras which feel live to give the album a real warmth and depth; Björk has plugged a beating human heart into her computer with Vespertine and the songs are what surface as she plugs it into her a computer, a DVD or CD player, a piece of recording equipment to keep it alive.
"Through the warmest cord of care / Your love was sent to me / I'm not sure what to do with it / Or where to put it" Hidden Place
Björk has a way of describing the way that she feels with descriptions that are so unique to her, and creates a distinctive perspective unlike anyone else, as many songs on this album that are about love are not ordinary love songs, as Vespertine begins with the song Hidden Place. This song includes the first instance of the motif of glitchy samples and the extremely bass-y drum machine sounds mixed with the more humanist instruments, as slowly a choir of harmonies is added to create this eerie atmosphere as the song reaches the chorus, as the high flying strings effortlessly sweep in, along with more sampled percussion, transforming the song entirely! This mantra of 'cold verse' into 'warm' chorus is repeated throughout Vespertine, very effectively, and whilst I think that Hidden Place is not the strongest example of this, I think that the beauty of this song is in its lyrics. The "hidden place" is a place where love exists; a place of, not just her own making, but created by her and the person she is in a relationship with. This place is somewhere where Björk feels safe and capable of expressing the true experience of love, unlike in the outside world: this love is so pure that she cannot even express what it means, and even if she could, it would simply not be understood anywhere but in this hidden place. This feeling is so intense that she must hide it away, and she doesn't know what to do with it so she keeps it here, where she knows best and knows it will be safe.
"There lies my passion / There lies my love / I'll hide it under a blanket / Lull it to sleep" Hidden Place
As a philosophy student (who just learned about this two weeks ago) I feel like I draw comparisons from the lyrics of this song to Immanuel Kant's "Analytic of the Beautiful", where Kant states that art, natural beauty, music, poetry etc can be a gateway to experiencing the truly beautiful, but the beautiful is merely a feeling. Many people get wrapped up in what art they think is beautiful but is actually, rather, agreeable, meaning that it is pleasant to you specifically or good, meaning it has some kind of practical use. As Kant states, for the beautiful to be beautiful, it must be experienced by everyone, as it is undeniable and it also does not need the art itself, as it is all to do with the feeling. I get a strong feeling that the "hidden place" Björk speaks of is similar to this feeling: hard to understand to the outside world but once the hidden place has been experienced, it is so pure that it needs no explanation.
The word vespertine relates to occurring in the evening (from the Latin, vespertinus, which comes from vesper, meaning evening), as Björk, in my reading of the album, wants this album to be experienced in the evening. She creates another mantra of her own little space, perhaps where she made this album and perhaps where it is supposed to be enjoyed in the evening, although is not limited to the evening itself. I believe that vespertine is simply a feeling that feels like evening but is not specific to it. In comparison to its predecessor album Homogenic, which is great because of its larger than life and dramatic style, this album is so much more personal and small and whilst I do love Homogenic and think it is also a perfect album of Björk's, the more intimate nature and the tactual nature of Vespertine is more interesting to me, it feels like you can really pick this album up with your hands.
I want to return to the notion of the contrasting cold and warm on this album with one of my favourite moments: the song It's Not Up To You. This song is honestly the main reason I decided to write this review; this song is perfect and I can't remember the last time I heard a song as good as this and the use of the contrast again is incredible, as when the chorus comes in it is so powerful and also somehow extremely catchy, showcasing, again, Björk's ear for pop music as well as the more experimental. The lyrics on this song perhaps contradict the message of the album, as the theme is of the idea of control, and how wanting control of everything will ultimately end up hurting you. Perhaps Vespertine is Björk's closest experience to full control, yet she still recognises that even within the things she thinks she can have total control over, she cannot; there will always be an element of chaos within all things, even that which is closest to her.
"If you leave it alone / It might just happen / Anyway/ It's not up to you, oh it never really was" It's Not Up To You
One of the more sombre and intimate moments on the album, is Cocoon, the rawness and emotion on this song is immediately apparent and unshielded by any unnecessary instrumentation or sound. It feels as though she is speaking to us directly about her experiences. This song, along with Undo, come as something as a pair in my eyes, with Undo being slightly more sonically diverse, with a drum beat driving the song forward, but it feels almost as though you can hear her whispering the lyrics directly into your ear. An Echo A Stain also fits into this category of rawness, however this track being a lot more eerie and leaves you with a pit in your stomach. An Echo A Stain has moments of dance music with driving kick drums, mixed with unnerving synths as it feels like you're falling, deeper and deeper into ice.
Pagan Poetry is another electronically human song on the album, as Björk slowly begins to give up control. This theme is prominent and we see a real vulnerability to her, as she is genuinely scared of not having it. As the beautiful instrumentation of this song begins to cut out, we hear her vocals repeating over and over again, eerily saying:
"I love him / I love him / I love him / I love him" Pagan Poetry
As this slowly divulges into:
"She loves him (But he makes me want to hand myself over)" Pagan Poetry
as she gives into that which she fears the most, the surrendering of her autonomy.
After Pagan Poetry, we get to the beautiful interlude Frosti into the song Aurora, which has one of the best melodies of any song on the album with what sounds like a harp playing in the background. Björk's production isn't the only thing that should be focused on, as her voice and vocal presentation are perfect, as it is clear she has the ear for what makes a great pop song, as vocal melodies like that do shine through occasionally, but she really does prefer the weirder melodies where its almost impossible to follow, but is just so unique to her. That being said, the contrast is great as those more harmonic melodies do hit so much harder when choruses like that finally come in.
"I tumbled down / On my knees / Fill the mouth / With snow" Aurora
The strings on the back half of this album really do just accentuate how beautiful Björk's songwriting is, as I think this is the highlight for songs like Sun In My Mouth, Harm of Will and the closing track Unison. The ending to this album is huge, the swelling string section along with Björk's wailing vocals, almost shouting but never quite reaching that volume, are just beautiful. There are so many layers to all of these songs it really makes it impossible not to just put the album back on again.
Heirloom is a track that leans more towards Björk's previous albums, being slightly more dance inspired with a driving bassline and drums, but again sticks to the motif of Vespertine, making it extremely interesting, by pushing the boundary of the album itself, by including breakbeat drums, but never fully regressing back to her previous work's and keeping things new. The synths are beautiful on this song and pair amazingly with her voice, and these both contrast with the drum and bass sounds.
Vespertine is a deeply personal album, Björk wears all of her emotions on her sleeve and combines the poetic expression of herself with her influences of art pop and electronic music, melding the two seemingly un-fusable aspects of her music effortlessly into a project that is equal parts, cold, jagged and experimental and equal parts, warm, beautiful and homely. Björk's need to create an album that's intended purpose was to be listened to in the comfort of one's home forces her to reflect on what home is for her. Vespertine is not just an album, its a feeling, the feeling of comfort, or as comfortable as one can be within life with the knowledge that one can never be truly comfortable. Björk knows that perhaps this album is not as alluring as something with more drama like her previous records, but this album feels less like Björk trying to push the boundaries, and more like her simply doing it because she has no other choice; this album simply could not be made by anyone else. Vespertine forces us to realise that beauty is not as presentable as it seems and that sometimes we need to put time and effort into finding something as transient, but when we are able to find it, we should hold onto it, well, at least for as long as we can.
"I find it so amazing when people tell me that electronic music has no soul. You can't blame the computer. If there's no soul in the music then it's because nobody put it there"
RATING: 10/10
FAVOURITE SONGS: It's Not Up To You, Unison, Aurora, Hidden Place, Heirloom.
LEAST FAVOURITE SONGS: NONE, THIS ALBUM IS PERFECT.
