Flume - Skin Companion EP II

Flume is an Australian Electronic artist that I started to get familiar with ages ago.  Years ago I feel like I stumbled across Flume's music on an FKA Twigs Pandora station.  In his early recordings, I love the chilled out alternative R&B vibe he was going for, which was brought to HUGE levels with the release of 2015's "Skin".  A lot of people were iffy on "Skin" but I thought it had a handful of really great performances and guest spots.  However, my one issue was that Flume more often then not took a little bit of a backseat to some of his guests.  On huge tracks like "Never Be Like You" this worked out fine, but other times I wanted to hear a little more from  him.  Which is why when he released his first companion EP to "Skin", I LOVED the more stripped back sound that was more focused on Flume himself.  Since then, he's released a second companion album, let's chat about it.

This EP starts off on the more sluggish side of things with “Enough” featuring the great Pusha T.  The synths that start this track are just as dark yet gorgeous as you would expect from Flume.  However it’s obvious very quickly that this is far from the direction that Flume was going for on his 1st Skin Companion EP.  That EP showed Flume hold back on the guest spots and honed his production, going for more of an alternative R&B vibe.  I thought that was actually really refreshing for Flume.  But here, instantly Flume is taking a backseat to Pusha T (mostly because of just how animated Push is, seriously I’ve seen the dude live, he’s got energy to spare).  While I enjoy both Pusha and Flume, this track doesn’t do much for me at all.   As far as Pusha’s verse goes, it’s solid, but for my liking I would much rather hear him on a more upbeat tune.  This is literally the farthest thing from an upbeat tune, with Flume’s beats being dominated by bass and just coming off as sluggish.  However all isn’t bad here, the atmosphere Flume put together is actually fantastic.  It’s alright overall, but I just enjoyed the direction he was going in on his last EP so much more.  Up next is “Weekend” featuring Moses Sumney, who’s been getting a whole lot of exposure recently.  As far as the intro goes on this one, man can Flume build up a nice atmosphere quickly.  This one is pretty far out overall, hell listening to this one I feel like I’m in the middle of a damn alien invasion.  The beat on this one is much more adventurous, and overall is muchhhh more along the lines of what I expect from Flume.  Some of the backing instrumentals here are absolutely stunning, from those strings to that odd plucking that appears occasionally.  All of this, as well as Sumney’s performance, add to the alternative R&B sound that Flume has gotten so accustomed to.  Speaking of Moses Sumney’s performance goes, this is overall just such a better collaboration.  Moses’s vocals aren’t overpowering at all, allowing Flume’s production to dominate.   Simply put, the two have great chemistry together.  The great atmosphere from the start of the track eventually does return towards the end, but why the hell did it take so long?   I still would have liked a tiny bit more of the focus to be on Flume, but compared to that first track this is certainly a huge improvement. 

When “Depth Charge” hits, immediately I feel like this is where I want Flume to be.  I understand that Flume’s music and his genre in general depends on vocal guest spots.  But as far as an instrumental track from Flume, this is exactly what I want to hear.  The synths here are absolutely to die for as they wheeze in and out, as far as a great overall electronic track this is about as good as your going to get.  I mean thankfully Flume has never really gone full on EDM on us, mostly because his personality is always in every one of his synth notes.  There are also some really great, bizarre moments here as well with oddball vocal samples which go fantastic amongst this atmosphere.  “Depth Charge” as far as instrumentals go, are right where Flume should be.  This EP ends off with “Fantastic” featuring Dan Bayley of Glass Animals.  As far as the beat goes here, this may be the most adventurous and most left field sounding track here by far.  It actually comes off sounding like a Glass Animals rhythm, so Dan’s presence actually goes over quite well.  However once again I do have some issues.  Dan and Flume absolutely have chemistry.  But once again I feel like Flume is seriously taking a backseat here to his guest.  Once again, I 100% get that when your a DJ this is something you have to deal with though.  As the track goes on I have less problems with this one, mostly because more synths and production tricks pop in.  I just wish Flume had a few more tricks up his sleeve.  

Rating: 6.8/10

Overall Thoughts:  Personally, I did enjoy the first Companion EP a little bit better.  However, this certainly still shows a lot of promise.  While I wasn't amazed by Pusha T's performance, Moses Sumney and Dan Bayley had some serious chemistry with Flume.  "Depth Charge" as well shows just how much Flume can wow us with instrumentals when he sets his mind to it.  I still wish this was a little bit more about Flume, but I digress, it's not terrible.