on the pulse - 2023 - #7 - jack harlow, the national, enter shikari, agust d, karen jonas, temples, grandbrothers, nashville ambient ensemble
Nashville Ambient Ensemble - Light and Space - So this is an act I was actually planning to cover back in 2021 but simply ran out of time, where a group of session musicians improvised misty country tones into analog ambient music, and their debut Cerulean was really damn pretty. So now back with this… there’s been a shift towards more gauzy digital synths, more squealing fiddle along with pedal steel, and more whispering vocals, even fully formed lyrics. But while there’s a few nice touches that remind me a bit of Casualties of Cool in the guitar texture, and the fiddles sound terrific, the buttery mix doesn’t feel as organic as it could with both the runny but hollow synthwave keyboards and the vocal blending, where its improvisational compositions can set a borderline dream pop atmosphere but lose some character and standout moments. It’s good, it’s got moments… but I’m less impressed this time.
Grandbrothers - Late Reflections - The German ambient duo are back after All The Unknown in 2021 - one of the best of that year - with an album that takes their glassy, fast-paced tinkling piano arpeggios for a more nocturnal sound, recorded in the Cologne cathedral with the inclusion of organ and perhaps their most intricate percussion to date. And that interlacing patter with the haunted natural reverb of the location - along with the occasional quaking shudder of glitch - creates a cavernous mysticism to their post-rock inspirations, long shadows dancing across stained glass windows. There are a few shorter pieces that feel less like transitions and more unfinished flourishes, and there are some tones and percussion that get a bit too brittle, but tighter sequencing and starting darker allows their melodies to pop all the brighter. Legit beautiful work, please check it out… it may be their best to date.
Temples - Exotico - So let’s ask, what is Temples’ greatest strength? If you answered dreamy, throwback but irresistible melodies and harmonies, you’d be right - so naturally the band went to Dave Fridmann’s mixing, who increasingly blows out all the percussion, and Sean Lennon on production, who washes out the sound for a more tropical vibe but sucks the immediacy out of the band on an album that runs painfully long, turning them into a wannabe Tame Impala with a splash of King Gizzard’s environmentalist streak in trying to ride out an apocalypse amidst a meandering party in nature and hookups - very late 60s in that. So it might be heavier overall and there are a few songs where great hooks punch through, but as they’ve also never had lyrics to quite match the melodies… some of this band’s maximalist elements got grating, and as a whole it doesn’t stick. So yeah, unfortunately it’s a big disappointment, hit-or-miss at best.
Karen Jonas - The Restless - I’m later than I want to be to Karen Jonas’ newest project, which some have said is her best since 2016’s Country Songs - I have been listening to it off and on for damn near two months! And yes, I do think it’s a pretty great album - Jonas dials into a soft-spoken, smoky vibe that cultivates mature sensuality amazingly well, with a more cosmopolitan, European vibe to her framing is a really nice touch to showcase heady, lived-in romantic details, especially as the production feels more burnished and robust. I have minor nitpicks - I don’t always love her backing vocals - but where it took a long time to click for me comes with its greatest strength being its greatest weakness - it’s a very slow burn, so you need to have patience to sit and simmer with it. It’s definitely a very ‘adult’ album in its framing and subject matter… but for me it’s a win - her best since her debut, great stuff!
Agust D - D-DAY - So I guess since I’ve covered other BTS side ventures before, folks thought I’d be open to Suga aka Agust D’s full-length debut outside of his mixtapes. And yet while there’s talent and polish here - the production is well-balanced, Agust D is a competent rapper, the album runs at a very brisk pace and doesn’t overstay its welcome - it sounds like a mid-to-late 2010s pop rap album with truly egregious autotune abuse where the selling points are that it’s from a member of BTS with a collab from the late Ryuichi Sakamoto of Yellow Magic Orchestra. Outside of that… there’s more swagger balanced with lonely, jaded bitterness, dabbling in trap, drill or R&B where the direct influences are very obvious, and lyrics that while I’m sure I’m losing something in translation just feel broadly sketched, undercooked and derivative. It’s passable, but really hard to recommend to anyone outside the BTS army, just not that interesting.
Enter Shikari - A Kiss For The Whole World - Look, even the fans will admit Enter Shikari as an act makes wildly overproduced, genre-bending, messy albums where you pray for the hyper-earnest transcendent moments. And when many fans calling this messier than most, expectations were mixed… and for good reason. Now thematically it makes some sense - this album is about existential confusion and rage, seeking inspiration and freedom with reckless abandon… but outside of some passing jabs at social media, the lack of specifics leads to a lot of broad sloganeering that feels aimless and fragmented. That’s true about the compositions as well, flailing between post-hardcore, over-compressed pop metal, and even bro-step, where if the momentum or tempo flags at all, the impact evaporates. And yes, there are potent moments… but this is more of a firework than a bonfire; extremely hit-and-miss at best.
The National - First Two Pages Of Frankenstein - …look, The National are near the elder statesman role in indie rock where the albums will be good or on the cusp of great, but not match their peak, I’ve believed that since at least I Am Easy To Find. This feels a bit tighter, a bit softer and pop-friendly, the lyrics a bit more direct, and even if Sufjan Stevens and Phoebe Bridgers feel like glorified backing vocalists, they are welcome and Taylor Swift is a great counterweight to Matt Berninger. That said… it is a National album, the melancholic tones are familiar, the bass and percussion could afford to hit a bit harder, it’s a slow burn and that doesn’t always help the melodies pop, but the ones that do, deep in the feverish, complicated but emotive relationship drama, will crush you underfoot; ‘Tropic Morning News’ in particular is one of the best songs of 2023. You’ll know what you’re getting with this… but at least for me, it’s still great.
Jack Harlow - Jackman - So after Jack Harlow’s mainstream failure to launch last year, the calculated pivot isn’t as surprising for me as it seems for everyone else - like Drake after Thank Me Later, go to rougher, more soulful beats, focus on bars to win back old fans and build hip-hop cred, take the extra chances we’re always so willing to give white rappers - low risk, high reward. But given I didn’t hate his last album, I’m way less impressed: the defensiveness clashes with Harlow’s laid-back cool, the family insecurities and his come-up are explored but the introspection feels flimsy, and while the serious subject matter and tone brings a heavier vibe, compared to his influences the insight is limited, the wack lines stand out more, and Jack Harlow’s not always the best messenger to sell it. Yes, the production and flows are solid, it’s decent if way too short… but if he wants to jump to a higher level, this is not a slam dunk.