Review Summary: I guess it's all in what you learn in a day: Destroy the World
A cold breeze glid over the lone alleyway, with our protagonist running from an unknown force. Where is he running to? We may never know. The old graffitis speak tales of peacemakers and different countries. But for now it seems like he is getting away from whatever he wanted to get away from. It seems like he is a bit out of breath. I think we can check on him later on.
Have you ever felt the need to change so bad, you threw your old style of music completely out the window and tried something completely new? I will be straight up with you, because I have no way of describing this transition other than this. This is an album full of bleepy futuristic pop-music, almost completely electronic and Andrew raps. A lot. This is an extremely drastic change of musical style, if you are considering his more folky earlier albums. But all in all there is just one question, is this album any good?
The production, once again handled by Andrew alone, is surprisingly amazing, if you never heard this side of him before. The production values are very high, there are tiny great details in every song, nothing feels underproduced, everything sounds clear. The rhythms are very complex most of the time and the melodies are contemporary, but never too derivative. This album gives off an almost Aphex Twin-y vibe with it's polyrythmic experimentation.
Seeing how he raps on this album, we should go in more detail on his lyrics. And, also surprisingly, Andrew is a great rapper. His rhymes are great, his flows are impressive and his topics turned way broader, now covering politics, religion, violence and personal problems. For an example of his lyricism, check out the following excerpt from his second verse of New Love:
So I guess I have to stay tight
Until grace lights every stage white from a great height/
Get live with an art form that resides/
In the air that you breathe, in the wash of the tide/
It's dawn in my chest/
On to finesse wrongs that dispense raw rhythm
When I'm drawn into mess/
God help me/
I've got a supplement for every cell but i'm not healthy
You can see and feel his growth of artistic integrity with every second of this song, multisyllabic rhymes, internal rhymes, everything clicks, sits and fits.
This album is chock full of highlights, from the beat-switches on New Love, the soulful vocals on Shy Knife, the flow and rhythm on Peacemaker, the experimental vibe of Tape/Brazil, the strings on Pent Up, almost no second on this record is wasted. The only thing feeling kinda out of place is the jumbled connection between the transition track 22 and the kinda superflous Ursula, which starts out interesting, but is eventually destroyed by its weird melody.
This is a very impressive album, seeing how it puts Andrew in a really completely different context, while still managing to be distinctly him and not missing out on some amazing experimentation. Definitely a great addition to the musical facets of Andrew, and marking him even more an artist to watch. The question is just, how will he follow this? What tricks does he have in store?
A big wave of yellow glowing matter is closing in on our protagonist. Will he be able to escape it? No. It moves to fast. We hear a scream of agony. The last scream of agony. The world is destroyed, and just ashes were left behind.
