Review Summary: I want my MTV!
There's nostalgia and then there's the
need for nostalgia; for people born around the turn of the millennium, that need is an inescapable feeling, owing itself to the way the entertainment culture shifted at the time. These are people whose childhoods were deeply informed by traditional forms of entertainment, whose perception of pop culture was shaped by television but whose adolescence blossomed alongside the Internet. Caught in that middle, it's understandable to yearn for a time they got to experience for a while but never
quite grasp, while simultaneously intending to master and take full advantage of a time they're well-versed in. Which brings us to Tracy Genevieve Amare, the 22-year-old artist performing under the Portraits of Tracy moniker: someone who undoubtedly fits the bill. Someone who not only seeks to immerse herself in retro aesthetics, but also refuses to shy away from the myriad influences and do-it-yourself attitude that the Internet age nurtured her with. She looks at both the nostalgic and the modern; the music follows suit.
Genre-blending is cool, but it’s not a mere tag or trait for the musician. It’s a tool and a skill set and, like any other tool and skill set, the one wielding it needs to know how it works. Calling a piece of music “genre-fluid” for merely mashing different styles together isn’t enough and there's a requirement here: a strong artistic voice to stitch those disparate genres together with conviction. Portraits of Tracy undoubtedly possesses one. For starters, she not only has a clear love for the genres present on her brand new EP, but she also seems to get and respect the foundational rules of each genre and twist her performance to their will, whether she’s screaming atop a hardcore punk riff or crooning alongside indietronica production. At the same time, her message is crystal-clear even from the title:
Q: From Where Do Our Primal Instincts Originate? A: MTV! nods to Devo’s debut album but also points to a golden era of music and nostalgic aesthetics—and how those shape our worldview. But when taking into account the things Portraits of Tracy sings about across the EP’s 20 minutes —from defiance against bigotry to self-preservation and artistic identity— the title becomes a reclamation of pop culture by a young, black, transgender artist who creates entirely on her own terms.
But this is music we're talking about and music isn't just a vessel for a thousand themes. Surface-level enjoyment is also essential and there needs to be a standard of quality to the technical aspects of the songs. And when it comes to genre-blending, production and vocals have to cohabitate across the genre-shifts in order for the experience to click. This is where Amare sometimes stumbles. Take ‘This Song May Or May Not Be About An Alt-Right Influencer’, the aforementioned punk rager. Despite how convincing and venomous she sounds on the verses, the mixing is so rough and loud that her melodic performance on the chorus can't keep up with the noise; she sounds subdued to the point of barely being present. It's unfortunate, because there is a lot of untapped potential for her with this style. Similarly, ‘Royal Courts (Great Misfortune) has wildly inconsistent mixing, with the guitar strumming being downright grating, threatening to throw off an otherwise catchy track. This unpolished quality of the end product doesn't feel like a deliberate attempt to create a “messy” sound, but rather the result of the limitations imposed by the artist’s DIY ethos.
Amare is the sole producer and mixer of the EP and that creative choice is a double-edged sword: she knows what she wants, but she’s still figuring out how to fully realize it. That can be a fun experience for listeners to have in retrospect, but it allows the aforementioned tracks to contain noticeable mixing and compositional blunders. When she zeroes in on a sound, however, Amare yields superb results. You can convincingly sell the entirety of the project on its crown jewel ‘Caught In A Jam’; an irresistible new rave bop that leads to a fuzzy glam rock breakdown. But it’s her vocal performance, stylistic shifts and production —and the synergy between them— that truly sells this track. It’s the best example of Amare combining nostalgic and futuristic elements together in convincing ways: vintage synth textures and psychedelic guitars brushing up against modern experimental indietronica. She hits that sweet spot on the closer too: a beautifully-sung cover of Rose Banks’ ‘My Life Is Loving You’ that keeps the soulful balladry and the grandiose composition before giving its final moments a noisy drum breakdown. Against all odds, it works!
Look, this is another case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. No matter how harsh I am on individual tracks for their questionable mixing, the issues they pose are not foundational. Because Amare is checking every box that an aspiring genre-defying artist should, the foundations themselves are solid.
Q: From Where Do Our Primal Instincts Originate? A: MTV! presents everything, from a clear artistic identity and an understanding of disparate styles and how one should operate within them to a willingness to bend their boundaries as well as obvious technical talents in singing and production. Despite how many influences are contained within those 20 minutes, it never sounds overwhelming or incohesive; the songs actually flow seamlessly. Portraits of Tracy is an artist to look out for. If she holds on to her foundational strengths, irons out the compositional issues and perhaps brings new people and fresh perspectives to her artistic process, her next project could be something extraordinary.
