In No Particular Order – May 22, 2020
Happy New Music Friday!
Welcome to another edition of In No Particular Order where I take on a handful of my favourite new albums from the week and dive into them in no particular order.
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Jordan Klassen – Tell Me What To Do
9/10
Indie folk/Singer-songwriter
Vancouver singer-songwriter Jordan Klassen is one of Canada’s most gifted songwriters. He has helped produce and write for a number of upcoming artists, and has put out four full-length records over the years, including his latest Tell Me What To Do.
But he admits this is the first album since 2011 that is 100% independent. Every note, lyric, and expression is from Klassen as he explores the theme of understanding one’s identity in a world that at times feels like a limitless expanse.
“For the first time since 2011 I made a record 100% independently, and I did it trying to remember why I started writing songs in the first place. I didn’t want to look over my shoulder anymore. Tell Me What To Do is a bit of a paradox because on the one hand I’m begging for something outside of me to inform my identity. On the other hand I forged a path that feels more like me than any I have before.”
While manoeuvring through the world may feel like an unimaginable task at times, Tell Me What To Do approaches it with self-assured comfort and bliss. Klassen’s voice is a soothing navigator across 12 tracks as he finds peaks and drops in the journey. From more charming and uplifting songs like “Identivacation” or “I Want To Move In To Your House”, to poignant narrative-driven tracks like “Virtuous Circle”, “Surprise – Not Surprised”, or “A Letter To Jesse Boy”, the album carries the torch of songwriters Sufjan Stevens and Simon & Garfunkel with the confidence of a songwriter that is comfortable in his own skin.
His overt attention to detail on the record is what gives Tell Me What To Do its strength musically. Every song is a melting pot of guitar, piano, percussion, vocal harmonies, and anything else Klassen sees fit to give the song its own energy and dynamic; perhaps you’ll find string arrangements, maybe it’ll be electronic sounds and textures, or maybe it’ll be dizzying effect pedals – the diversity in sound is unpredictable but welcomed.
And this uncertainty and experimentation goes hand in hand with the album’s message of finding yourself through different phases of identity. The multifariousness of the album keeps the journey exciting and most importantly, imperfectly human.
Notable tracks: “Virtuous Circle” // “I Want To Move In To Your House” // “Indentivacation”
Airborne Toxic Event – Hollywood Park
7.5/10
Alternative rock
There are many coming of age stories that follow a similar pattern. Turbulent school environment and/or a changing home make it difficult to navigate puberty or a new stage of life. But every so often, a new story emerges, turning the tables on the common narrative. In this case, it’s L.A. alt-rock group Airborne Toxic Event‘s new album Hollywood Park. Written by frontman Mikel Jollett, the band’s sixth full-length is an exploration of Jollett’s traumatic upbringing as a child born into the violent Synanon cult and the journey to find distance between his past and his future.
Airborne Toxic Event have always been known for their arena-sized energy and power. Jollett’s baritone croon can both carry slow-burning rock on tracks like “Come On Out” or switch into a barrelling howl to charge forward the band’s dynamic alt-rock sound on “Carry Me” or “I Don’t Want To Be Here Anymore”. Combining that with the frontman’s unique story, Hollywood Park instantly becomes a compelling release, not distancing themselves too far from their signature sound that has gotten them this far in their career.
Alongside the release of Hollywood Park, Jollett will be releasing his memoir of the same name on May 26th.
Notable tracks: “Hollywood Park” // “Carry Me” // “All These Engagements”
The 1975 – Notes On A Conditional Form
7/10
Alternative pop-rock
Every time I came across a song from The 1975, it never stuck with me. It seemed to be a boring, repetitive recipe of slapping “emo-pop” lyrics into a pool of melted popsicles and sugar coated synth-pop of the 2010s. Were they trying to market themselves to the same “edgy” 13 year olds” that listen to 5 Seconds of Summer or was that just me? Sure, I didn’t give the band a proper listen – but with that first impression, why would I?
So in a way, here I am taking a chance with their fourth album Notes On A Conditional Form. And when I took in the fact that it’s a 22 song album reaching over an hour and twenty minutes, I feel like the band is trying to say something this time (albeit, border-line word-vomiting at that length). And that “thing” happens to be about the crushing bleakness of the world – sometimes in the form of dooming climate change or more humanistic aspects like lost love or existentialism.
Instead of their signature ’80s-pop rock vibe, The 1975 exchange their tokens for a variety of genres, such as Americana-folk, glitchy house beats (which happen to be the most exciting part of the record), or grungy alt-rock. Yet somehow, the album flows together, creating this patchwork of experimentation and expression through various mediums that becomes this giant blanket of, well, bleakness (dynamic bleakness at least).
The bleakness kicks off with Greta Thornburg’s climate change speech overtop a gentle piano arrangement as the opening track for “1975” – for five minutes. Suddenly, it switches into the angry “People” and “The End (Music For Cars)”.
But they let off the gas gradually, as the later two-thirds of the record seems to ease off into their more familiar work and songwriting. “Me & You Together Song”, “If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)”, and “Playing On My Mind” feel like staple-1975 hits to ease the listening process, while the final third closes off in electronic fashion.
To fully immerse yourself in the album, it is an exhausting and at times, unrewarding task. The 1975 could have easily condensed the album, perhaps putting more emphasis on the ability to put out a 22-track record for show. But it has its strong points and gives the band some more artistic creditability outside of being a teenage-pop “punk” band and instead one that focuses on production and diverse songwriting.
Notable tracks: “People” // “Nothing Revealed/Nothing Denied” // “Shiny Collarbone” // “Having No Head”
Fonkynson – Falling
8.5/10
Electronic/House
Paris-born/Montreal-based electronic producer Fonkynson set the standard high on his 2016 debut release #followme. His French roots shine through in his funk-forward house music, making anything he touches turn to dance floor gold by the way of Parisian disco. His sophomore album Falling is no different, building on his sound to incorporate more polished and matured future house tunes.
Keeping things short and sweet, the 9-track effort is a brief half hour of club-worthy tracks. He has readapted his sound by bringing in more progressive and deep house elements, such as on opening track “Missed Connection” and “Falling”, and even manages to throw in some dubstep on “Reefer Madness”.
In a genre that is often cut and paste, Fonkynson manages to remain individual and captivating, finding the right melodies and hooks to warrant a dance party or chill listening session without feeling overdone. Hits like “Mind Games” and “Giving U Up” make it easy to sink into his sound.
Just in time for summer, Fonkynson is a must-have for any sun-soaked playlist.
Notable tracks: “Mind Games” // “Ultra Violet” // “Reefer Madness”
