Review Summary: A great blend of trance and old-school "rock 'n roll"
In This Mode is an up and coming Australian trance/ electronica artist, two genres I generally would tend to avoid. He has released a number of albums over the last few years, and while I have heard some of his music and quite liked it it never really "stuck". It was the type of music I could respect as being very well made and technically proficient, but wouldn't choose to follow up on. RIDE, however, definitely changes that for me. In embracing a more "rock" vibe than his previous work, the artist creates a unique and riveting sound and atmosphere, one which I believe the majority of "commercial" electronica misses. Instead of creating simple if catchy party music like the majority of popular DJ's and producers, In This Mode chooses a more organic and artistic approach while still using mainly synthesizers to convey the message and sound. The lyrics generally speak of escape and freedom, but avoid stereotypical "angsty" payoffs by being less specific and more focused on the general feelings of such topics. The old-school "rock 'n roll" vibe as well as the rough vocals create opposing images; that of open deserts and skies and the feeling of driving at night to no particular destination but with a new found freedom, but also the feeling that maybe this is only a dream and we are all locked and caged by the conventions and nature of the society we created.
The album kicks off with the title track "Ride", a song which while not the best on the album does a good job of setting a general tone and showcasing some effective combinations of trance and rock. The lyrics, delivered in a spoken-word style, basically sum up the image of driving at night to a new future, and refusing to look back for fear of being trapped again. The rock feel is again strong in "The Coven", which begins with some stuttering synths and then jumps into a chugging guitar riff blended with trance elements. The chorus is particularly catchy, sure to get stuck in you head for quite some time. It would not surprise me to see this song released as a single at some stage in the future. Things slow down next for two of my personal favorites off the album, and indeed some of my favorite electronic pieces in general. "Spellbound" is beautiful and chilling in equal proportions, featuring some very cool, almost Indian sounding vocal runs which mold together to create a unique and stunning feel. The instrumentals are fairly minimalist in comparison to the first two tracks, but still complex enough to create the vibe. "It's Optional" begins like a lesser version of "Spellbound", but soon becomes a dark anthem to the pointless nature of the many things we waste our precious lives on. The verses are heavily ironic, creating an almost oppressively dark mood, but the chorus strains to escape the shadows created by the repetitive groove leading up to it. It never quite succeeds, and this breeds the image of someone straining to create a cycle of their own creation, warning the younger listener against the path they have chosen. These two songs really changed my perception of where this piece was going, and they form the centerpiece of the album.
"No solid ground to stand, that's why I've flown" kind of sums up the song Path, another dark song this time painting a picture of someone so worn down by the backstabbing, treacherous nature of society that they leave to another country in the hope of finding some peace. Upon arriving he finds that nothing really changes, so he is forced to look for an alternative where none is really present. The phrase "I'll find my path" is repeated like a mantra, but by the end it seems he has lost all hope of the words actually meaning anything, saying them more from habit than any real conviction that he will ever escape. This despair turns almost to anger on the next track, the "heaviest" on the album. Built round a groove of glitchy, almost Dubstep-like (although I hate to use that analogy) effects, "It Dawns On" lashes out at the almost pathetic and often disgusting nature of the greedy corporate core of our world, and connects this with the "Screen Warrior" generation we live in. The spoken-word verses sometimes feel slightly forced or awkward, but the melodic chorus balances it out nicely. The album closes with "What's Real?", a song that is clearly separated into two parts. The first repeats the themes of alienation and distrust, questioning whether the things we see and hear are merely a setup or facade, but as it reaches its climax it morphs into an almost euphoric escapist anthem, finishing the album on a largely positive note and completing the sense of a journey that this album embodies and conveys.
RIDE is a great album that at its best is one of the better examples of how electronic music does not have to lack in creativity and talent. The melodies are often fairly repetitive, and the rhymes occasionally verge on awkward but for the most part it is a strong example of a genre that carries the weight of a large amount of (largely self-inflicted) misconceptions. Definitely worth a listen.
Listen to:
Spellbound
It's Optional
The Coven
Path
