Review Summary: Glitchy kitsch nothings
‘Oil Of Every Person’s Un-Sides’ is... something. It’s rather hard to put into words exactly what Scottish producer SOPHIE’s debut album really is in the context of things. An uncomfortably claustrophobic mix of saccharine 2000s club aesthetic, distortion and pitched vocals, ‘Oil Of...’ at times feels more like a pile of sparkly rainbow vomit, with the chunks of remaining undigested food rearranged to form a cohesive record. It’s an unusual little beast of an LP and one that was lavished with a stream of acclaim upon its release. SOPHIE is associated with the PC music collective (despite not actually being part of the roster), a label that puts out post-ironic pieces of twee bubblegum dance that gained traction a few years ago before promptly fading back into the abyss. But ‘Oil Of...’ doesn’t really fit that category. Instead it’s more of a weird Avant-Pop electronica record with shades of IDM and trance mixed in to the chaos. It’s subtly odd and nuanced. It’s also subtly boring.
‘Oil Of...’ never really sticks to a certain style most of the time. The opening track ‘It’s Okay to Cry’ plays itself as a throwaway The 1975 B-side, recorded after Matty Healy felt he needed to be even more pretentious than usual. SOPHIE lays down a timid (and heavily accented) vocal over the cheesy EDM styled backing, sprinkled with MIDI keys. The track builds into an admittedly rather triumphant reassuring finale before fading out of existence. The following two tracks ‘Ponyboy’ and ‘Faceshopping’ are more Babby’s first Aphex Twin deep cut than notable pieces, punctuated with distorted beats and elephant calls. They’re unmemorable, repetitive and easily swappable. The “is this nostalgic fun or am I being deathly serious” vibe continues on ‘Is It Cold In The Water?’ Which layers down the cheese ridden trance synths along with a muffled and unsure vocal track which fails to go anywhere notable before the song abruptly stops.
‘Infatuation’ is, interestingly, the album’s high point building from an odd babyish vocal sample into a soulful gospel tinged melodic gem sprinkled with the occasional dissonant screech. It’s definitely one of the finer moments on the album, building tension and euphoria simultaneously. The high quickly comes down though with the next track. ‘Not Okay’ is a silly little collage of samples that barely lasts two minutes and is chock full of walls of farting synths. It’s more of a “throw *** at the wall and see if it sticks” moment but it’s short runtime means it doesn’t overstay its welcome much. ‘Pretending’ is 5 minutes of absolutely nothing happening minus a synth part layers on top of itself to create a fairly pleasant ambient track and a collection of odd noises and warped sounds. ‘Immaterial’ is the only straight out bubblegum bass track on the record, playing out as a garish mesh of nightcore and Tropical EDM to create a fairly interesting and catchy little song. Sophie puts down a much more captivating and melodically pleasing vocal here. The finale, the 9 minute ‘Whole New World/Pretend World’ is a strange mix of glitchy vocals, industrial sounds and waves of distortion that blend into a neat but overly long track. The record ends with a slurry of fuzz and high pitched screeching that fades out into nothingness.
‘Oil of...’ is, to put it bluntly, fairly boring. For an artist who’s been hailed as an experimental pop master, the album sure feels rather safe and predictable in some spots. The more noisy tracks are either boringly straight forward or downright annoying and the “hahah am I being ironic who knows?” Style of the more poppy pieces feels unbelievably forced and unnatural. While there are some moments where Sophie lets her hair down and allows the mix of strangeness and melody to mesh well, they’re few and far between and the album ends up more forgettable as a result. But hey, it’s all just a wild critique right? Don’t we already have Vaporwave for that?
Recommend tracks:
Infatuation, Immaterial, Whole New World/Pretend World (sort of)
