|
For me, SKON is the right song for that kind of production. I like ridiculously over the top stuff in the right place, and it works for me there. The real issue is that the sound doesn't work on most of the album, so there are some songs with potential that sink under the weight of yet another combined gospel choir and string section. But my other issues are that a lot of the songs are forgettably dull, that the production is too uniform - they missed the mark if they were going for EMG, because they just took that to mean 'The Girl Who Wanted to be God' and 'Enola/Alone' and forgot about the huge roomy drums on ADFL and EMG, the ambient intro and two-part structure of Elvis, the stripped back melancholia of SBFTGITS, the grunge of Removables, the weird mix of spy film theme and choppy post-punk on Kevin Carter, the epic crunch of NSAF - and that it ultimately feels like a cynical attempt to create a specific sound, rather than a natural catharsis.
Interviews are certainly making Critical Thinking out to be more interesting than many of us anticipated, and I really hope it lives up to that. I can deal with a song like 'Decline & Fall' if it's in the right context: if they'd put out 'The Year of Purification' as a lead single, a lot would have had a similar reaction, but would still have appreciated the direction of KYE. So maybe it'll be like that. Certainly Nicky angrily shouting a list of things he hates sounds like a Manicsy idea, albeit on their dafter/naffer side. But I'm good with that, it comes with the territory.
But, we've had bollocks from Nicky before an album comes out many times before. TUVL is the only one that ended up sounding like his description. So it could still be another SATT/PFAYM/RiF.
|