Review Summary: Truly an advanced placement.
UPDATE 1/22/2022
I've held onto this updated take for a while, so I might as well spit it out: this album has gone from one I simply consider "good" to being one of my favorite albums of all time. Watsky ups his game on this record WAY more than I ever gave him credit for. His vocals and singing are in top form. The songwriting is incredibly solid and holds my interest from start to finish. The lyrics on this record feel much more mature and out-there than they do corny, and those corny lyrics are something Watsky tends to get chastised for. If you have ever thought of Watsky as being this geeky cliche generator and little else, I have some good news: this album will not trigger any eye-rolling, I promise.
It's also worth mentioning that some of the choices in production that I previously thought were too off-kilter are now decisions that I find to be incredibly unique and fowardthinking, though I can recognize why someone still might be driven away from this record's closer because of that disjointed scream that happens every 2 seconds. I like it, though.
Most importantly, none of these tracks fell overwritten, underwritten, unnecessary, or any of that jargon - it's all killer.
Considering my slowly increasing negative thoughts towards Complaint, I'm surprised this album was as big of an upgrade as it was; however, those thoughts were probably the reason I originally thought that this album was less than the sum of its parts. Not anymore, though. This album is fantastic, and I highly recommend you all give it a spin.
The old review + its scores (plus my updated scores) can be found beyond this point.
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2020 offers Watsky's Placement, his 6th studio offering as well as his second record of the "symmetry series" (which I only learned was a thing when this album came out). I have to be honest, I had pretty much stopped religiously listening to Watsky's music by the time this one came out, and I wasn't extremely hyped to see its release. But I remembered last night; it must have been nearly 12:00p.m., I had just gotten done Facetiming my girlfriend and was getting ready to crawl into bed, and then I remembered: "Hey, didn't Wastky drop that new album today? Eh, fuck it, I'll listen to it later." Perhaps it may have been because I was tired, but I just wasn't as ecstatic as I was when Complaint released (which is this album's predecessor). But I woke up this morning and decided to give it a try. After all, I really enjoyed Complaint. I still do. But enough gawking, let's see what Watsky has in store this time around.
Immediately, our opening track, "Advanced Placement," sets the tone for the rest of the album with this almost orchestral-like promenade of autotuned voices rambling off questionable lyrics: "What's in the recipe / of an identity? / How do we get to be here?" Each voice is assigned a different note to make the aforementioned voices sound like an instrument playing a chord. In fact, this is something that the entire album does pretty well. It utilizes autotune as an instrument, which is why I bring this up, and also why I'm spending as much time on this single song as I am. The autotune doesn't feel like a crutch. It truly feels like it belongs, because the album uses it so much that it's essentially a part of its style. You can tell that Watsky isn't just using autotune for the hell of it. But this specific intro comes on a bit too strong, I'd say. It took me a few listens to really appreciate this track because the intro, while innovative and neat, is a bit jarring on a first listen.
"Best Friend the Floor," a track which nods toward suicidal thoughts, is not as reliant on autotune (but it is still there), and more or less has simpler melodies, which can sound pretty nice. "The Price of Growing Up" also feels like this in a way, focusing on feelings of insignificance. "Undermine" also sues simpler melodies, but features Raquel Rodriguez and Watsky himself muttering this word - undermine - using autotune as a way to make it feel more rewarding. I should also bring up "Dreams & Boxes," which is a track that is nearly 11 minutes long. When I first saw this, I was pretty excited, thinking "11 minutes? We're about to get Exquisite Corpse Pt. 2 up in this bitch!" Not really, though. It acts as two different songs with a 4-minute interlude separating them, which, to put it bluntly, features Watsky rambling off free-verse.
Something that Placement does astronomically better than Complaint is having its own identity. Every track on this record feels like it should be on this record, and feels pretty different from most of Watsky's other work. Complaint had some tracks that felt like they would fit better on previous records, for example, "Mean Ass Drunk" fitting better on All You Can Do. Here, that isn't the case. Everything works together and fits. Each track uses autotune in some way, and they all have something they do that makes them stand out from one another while staying true to Placement’s style. "Black Hole Eyes," the closing track, features a 9-year-old screaming over its dead Tamagotchi as a bit of a metronome, which is something I have never heard Watsky do before. But it still feels like his music.
Where Placement really lacks, however, is memorability. It may be because the album has only been out for a day, but this is a problem I haven't really had with Watsky before. I can usually remember one of his tracks after 1-2 listens, but for this record, which I listened to nearly a full 4 times before writing this, doesn't stick with me the same way. It leaves a lot of this album feeling forgettable. Even with “Advanced Placement,” which was released as a single for nearly 5 months before this album was released, didn’t stick with me until I listened to it for a fifth or sixth time. It’s a shame, really, because a lot of this music is solid, but one might tend to forget that until they go back to the album and give it a listen. Another thing that really prevents Placement from total perfection is the autotune, which, yes, I was giving praise because it is a unique idea. It is used in a way that makes it obvious it is not being used as a crutch and rather a true part of Watsky’s style. But some people may not see it that way. Even I think a song could have done without it sometimes. With the repeated “I’ve been down before!” theme on “Best Friend The Floor,” the autotune sounds a bit tacky and childish when compared to the deeper and less noticeable voice following it up by saying the same thing. It can also get a bit tiring to hear, especially when hearing the album the whole way through. Its usage can also mistake you for thinking that Watsky’s real voice is autotuned and that his autotuned voice is real. I may be the only one having this problem, but as I’m writing this, there was probably some places where I rambled on about the autotune and ended up being mistaken the whole time.
In short, Placement definitely has its strengths and weaknesses compared to Complaint. It has a much more distinct and orthodox sound that makes it feel like its own thing. The autotune is used smartly here as well, but it can be worn out before the record finishes, and even after listening to the whole record, you may forget some of the content on it. This record shows how much Watsky has evolved as an artist ever since his “Pale Kid Raps Fast” video went viral all the way back in 2011, and it does so pretty damn well, but it has definite flaws. Overall, I’d say this is a good album, and if you’ve heard Wastky’s music before, it’s definitely worth your time. For now, we can hope that Intention - whenever it decides to come out - will balance out the identity of Placement and the memorability of Complaint to make a bomb-ass record. Also, if you enjoy this album, check out Complaint while you’re at, that album has some good stuff on it too.
OLD SCORE: 3/5
FAVORITE TRACKS: ADVANCED PLACEMENT, UNDERMINE, EMBRACE THE QUAKE
LEAST FAVORITE TRACK: BLACK HOLE EYES
NEW SCORE: 5/5
FAVORITE TRACKS: ADVANCED PLACEMENT, BEST FRIEND THE FLOOR, SAVAGE, UNDERMINE, DREAMS & BOXES, THE PRICE OF GROWING UP, BORDER IN MY HEART, EMBRACE THE QUAKE, BLACK HOLE EYES (ALL OF THEM)
LEAST FAVORITE TRACK: dont have one
Thank you for reading.
