Porter Robinson has added some swagger to his electro-pop. St. Vincent has added some industrial textures to her art-rock. Read on for details.
Porter Robinson
Smile! 😀
2024, 8.5/10
Porter Robinson grew up in Chapel Hill, the same town in North Carolina that produced James Taylor, George Hamilton IV, and Ben Folds Five. Robinson started his career making EDM, but changed direction to alternative synth-pop.
2019’s impressive Nurture was often reflective and pretty. On Smile! 😀, Robinson turns the brashness up to 11 on the uptempo tracks. Tracks like ‘Everything To Me’ have the same prettiness and warmth as his Nurture work. Smile! 😀 sounds like two EPs stuck together. It’s hyperactive but charming – Robinson’s warm, humane voice is a major asset. It’s themed lyrically, with Robinson often exploring the fragile nature of fame in the internet stan era.
On the brash side, there’s a great opening track ‘Knock Yourself Out Xd’, with its analogue synth lead. ‘Perfect Pinterest Garden’ and ‘Cheerlead’ are other memorable uptempo tracks.
The six-minute ‘Russian Roulette’ is the centrepiece, reflecting both of the album’s moods, jumping from rock, to meditative ballad, and back to rocker. There’s meditative balladry to close the record, with the gorgeous ‘Is There Really No Happiness’ and ‘Everything To Me’ staying on the respectable side of sentimentality.
Robinson’s made another enjoyable record, he’s likeable no matter how brash he gets.
St Vincent
All Born Screaming
2024, 7.5/10
Annie Clark is one of the most critically acclaimed artists of the 21st century. Recording as St. Vincent, she has terrific guitar chops and reinvents herself every few years like her hero David Bowie.
On her previous record, she explored 1970s sleaze, here she creates a dark, industrial world. Experimenting with drum machines and modular synths, she made “hours and hours of esoteric post-industrial dance music” and microdosed on psychedelics.
After a couple of records with Jack Antonoff producing, Clark takes hold of the production reins on All Born Screaming. It sounds great, but it’s a little short of great tunes. Dave Grohl guests on drums on ‘Broken Man’ and ‘Flea’, two of the record’s most abrasive pieces. ‘Big Time Nothing’ starts off akin to U2’s ‘Numb’, before turning funky.
The record’s stronger near the end, as it mellows out a little and the tunes get more memorable. ‘The Power’s Out’ is a gentle torch song, while ‘So Many Planets’ has a hint of reggae. Best of all is the title track, enlivened by scratchy guitar and Cate LeBon’s presence.
All Born Screaming is strong, but a few more memorable tunes could have made it great.
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It’s fair to say both of these albums fall outside my wheelhouse. If I would explore one further, I would go with St. Vincent’s “All Born Screaming.” Porter Robinson sounds too synthetic to my ears.
Porter Robinson is pretty synthetic. There’s other St Vincent stuff you’d probably like more – she’s going for an industrial sound for this album. She did an entire album with David Byrne (although I haven’t actually heard it).
I don’t know if I’d listen to a St Vincent album but they’re a band I wouldn’t mind seeing live. Porter Robinson is some nice pop-rock.
St. Vincent is just one person – Annie Clark. She can shred on guitar pretty well, and she’s like a 21st century female Bowie, constantly reinventing herself after each record.
I’m liking what I’m hearing of St. Vincent.
She’s a pretty major 21st century artist in my book. You covered her this year in your women music series, right?
Was not familiar with Porter Robinson, but I like the two songs you shared. And while I can’t say I’m a massive fan of St. Vincent, I have really liked a number of her songs, including “Broken Man”, which spent 10 weeks on my chart earlier this year. Now listening to the album, and I’m liking it well enough.
I can see you liking Porter Robinson. I loved ‘Look at the Sky’ from his last record too.
St. Vincent has a kind of detachment that makes it hard to love her sometimes. Easy to admire though.