This album starts off with “Four Years and One Day”, and right off the bat I love the mystery and intrigue to this one. I was expecting to be thrown right into the flames with this album or at the very least some banging alternative dance club. But some of these tones on this intro, and more importantly the atmosphere is simply to die for. The production is just so huge, and the way Mount Kimbie slowly incorporate that beat is truly wonderful. It becomes the sort of driving beat that I would usually expect to hear from them, but the way it’s introduced is stunning. I love the more experimental vibe to this as well. Overall, “Four Years and One Day” is so different than what I'm used to hearing from Mount Kimbie. It’s hip and groovy but it also has a great outsider vibe to it. Not to mention the bass groove is ridiculous. I have nothing bad to say about this opener at all. Up next though, Mount Kimbie throw us for a loop with “Blue Train Lines” featuring King Krule. This track is completely the opposite from this album’s intro, being much more hectic and upbeat, almost having a sort of Electro-Punk feel. in every way, this was a track I wasn’t expecting to hear. However, it’s fantastic. They’ve worked with King Krule plenty of times in the past, and it’s always worked wonderfully. However, in this much more upbeat and aggressive environment, everything comes off fresh. Now, I’m not too familiar with King Krule’s solo material, but I’ve never heard him in this much of a harsh environment and I can’t get enough of it. King Krule’s vocals just sound so tortured. Mount Kimbie overall do a really good job of taking a back seat on this one and letting King Krule do his thing. But when they’re more bass heavy material pops in later it’s certainly worth the wait. Honestly, this is easily some of the hippest and coolest electronic stuff I’ve heard all year. Then we have “Audition”, which as a whole is much more straightforward for Mount Kimbie. The atmosphere is icy and the bass grooves are smooth. But to be honest this one really doesn’t grab me too much. As a matter of fact, this one just comes off bland. So far, Mount Kimbie have really been pushing their boundaries with more experimental tunes and sounds they haven’t worked with yet. But “Audition” sort of comes off as one of the lesser tracks from one of their first two albums. It’s not adventurous or anything. And while yes, the production is fine and some of the passages come off nicely, this doesn’t have the edge I was looking for. However, the sort of tropical and off kilter vibe of “Marilyn” featuring Micachu brings me right back in. I’m not exactly familiar with Micachu or his vocals, but his performance goes really nicely with the heavy atmosphere of this track. It’s not the most exciting and mind blowing track here. But it’s smooth and beautiful. Not to mention, the off kilter and strange production tracks give this one just enough of an edge to set this apart from every other underground DJ.
This album rolls on with “SP12 Beat”, and I continue to really love the sort of off kilter Tropical vibe to this. it’s so heavy in parts that I feel like Glass Animals fans would honestly really dig a lot of what’s going on here. Like, there are some serious grooves here. “SP12” just has so many layers and continues to be so much more engaging than the material that Mount Kimbie have given us in the past. Not to mention, that beat switch is done just so well. I would have been fine with this track sticking with these low down Jungle grooves. But it ends up transforming completely to an almost New Wave beat. To be honest, I wish this track was a whole lot longer. Then we have “You Look Certain (I’m Not So Sure” featuring Andrew Balency. Now, I’m gonna be brutally honest. Of all of the vocal features here, I’m feeling this one the least. All of the vocalists so far have seemed to blend into Mount Kimbie’s very soothing and hip production. However, Andrea’s sort of cold and lifeless vocals really sort of do nothing for me. Hell, they barely sound like they were recorded live, and half the time they end up sounding like they were sampled. As far as the instrumental goes, I have nothing bad to say. To be honest, instrumentally there’s a lot to love here, and I dig a lot of the live instrumentation. Honestly, this track may have been better as an instrumental. On the other hand, the light and delicate sound of “Poison” is actually very refreshing. Mount Kimbie here go for a sort of Lounge sound, and it’s something that they can pull off nicely. It’s just so simple, but it’s just so emotional and vast sounding that it ends up working really nicely as an interlude. “Poison” also brings in a very human aspect to this album that has been missing to an extent. Then we have the track that I was easily most interested to hear, “We Go Home Together” featuring James Blake. This one has a lumbering and off kilter beat that just sounds so warmed and left field. However, it’s brought right back down to earth heavily by James Blake, who has one of my favorite voices in the world. His performance takes a very bizarre and twisted electronic track that was already hip and makes it even more hip and interesting. I love James’s very sultry, delicate chorus. Easily, this is a standout for me. Some of Mount Kimbie’s more campy and strange production in the background as James tells this story of seduction just works so well for me. And while it’s honestly not what I would expect from either one of these artists, man does it ever work well.
As this album begins its descent, we have “Delta”, which takes us back to the sort of material that Mount Kimbie started this album with. It’s been actually quite a while since we’ve heard them on a track by themselves completely. But it honestly comes off really well for the duo. The atmosphere on this track is so surreal and bizarre and stays strong behind this driving 8-Bit sounding game that pushes its way in. It ends up being this really intense and stunning moment for Mount Kimbie, and honestly, it’s exactly where I want to hear them. A few years ago, I seriously felt like Mount Kimbie sounded like every other electronic duo. But when I hear tracks like “Delta”, I can easily tell it’s them. This track is progressive and experimental, but also has plenty of great danceable grooves and beats. Then we have “T.A.M.E.D.”, which is easily the most bizarre track on here. These backing vocals here are the stuff the likes that Arca would mess around with. But overall, this one doesn’t really end up going anywhere. I feel like this hazy, lazy synth beat really doesn’t do anything for Mount Kimbie. It’s just too spacey for my liking. Also, why the hell does it totally sound like Damon Albarn singing on that first verse? “T.A.M.E.D.” overall really doesn’t add to the atmosphere of anything, and certainly doesn't set them aside as an interesting force in electronic music. Thankfully, “How We Got By” brings back a lot of the elements that I’ve been missing for the finale. This one once again features James Blake, and he brings along that off kilter Jungle Vibe as well as a haunting atmosphere. But that really doesn’t stick around too long, because this one quickly shifts in the sort of Post-Dubstep direction of James Blake’s solo stuff. I do love how this track is much more inviting to his style of music, I mean he’s seriously belting his verse out. But strangely, this really doesn’t come off as much of a Mount Kimbie track. That being said, it ends up being a seriously hip and ridiculously cool ending. Also, it has that sort of lounge vibe again, which I honestly wouldn’t hearing more of in the future.
Rating: 8.0/10
Give a Listen To: “Four Years and One Day”, “Blue Train Lines”, “We Go Home Together”, “Delta”
Genre: Electronic / Future Garage / UK Bass / Post-Dubstep
If You Dig This, Check Out: Mount Kimbie - “Cold Spring Fault Less Youth”, James Blake - “James Blake”, Jamie XX - “In Colour”
Overall Thoughts: This album actually really took me by surprise. I was alwasys just so underwhelmed with everything Mount Kimbie did, even though I saw plenty of potential. However, this is sleek and hip Electronic album that I really wanted to hear this year. I don't think there's anything too mindboggling about this, but Mount Kimbie really works well with this sound. Plus, the vocal guests that they brought in here are actually really fantastic.
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