Review Summary: After Tomorrow.
Riding to fame on grunge's coattails, Silverchair provided the world with some of the most insufferable rock music this side of
Slippery When Wet. As is to be expected, Australia never really got the memo, and so the band continued releasing material to varying degrees of success for years to follow. Somewhat unbeknownst to the rest of the world, Daniel Johns spent most of this time appealing to critics to forgive him for contributing to the post-grunge farce. It largely didn't take, with
Diorama and
Young Modern wandering an expansive pop spectrum only to end up with the same insipid melodies as before. 20 years after "Tomorrow", Daniel Johns crafts himself a new identity- that of an electronic RnB crooner.
Surprisingly, he succeeds, with the title track soaring along to its sexy conclusion with aplomb rivaled only by James Blake's "Retrograde". There is no doubt that the capable hands of Joel Little (Broods, Lorde) are the culprits, elevating Johns' newly pronounced appreciation for silky and sultry beats into cloudy terrain. This is prominent in "Late Night Drive", where Johns' softly-spoken falsetto soars when drenched with Little's trademark low-profile beats. Complaints are scarce if not pronounced; the overdramatic and pondering "Preach" drags down proceedings significantly, especially as it consumes 25% of the EP. Most critics will use this space to denounce Johns' ability in relation to Tom Krell or Abel Tesfaye; it's unfair, because
Aerial Love promises bigger things than it has any right to. If Johns can make good on the promise here, we'll be looking at a new and exciting phase for this so-called 'has-been'.
