Baths - "Romaplasm"

Baths, aka the Electronic project of Will Wiesenfeld, is a project that sort of caught me off guard.  Like, I really wasn't expecting much out of his debut album "Cerulean".  But I found a lot of the music here to be totally playful and incredibly adventurous.  Will obviously had a ton of ideas and presented them wonderfully.  Now, some of the more stripped down moments on here (which really weren't many) were a little underwhelming.  But still, I found "Cerulean" to be a really nice start to Will's career under the Baths name.  Baths next up went on to release a sort of B-Sides collection in the form of "Pop Music/False B-Sides".  This, for the most part, was a very pleasant follow-up, with some of the softer and more ambient recordings really standing out in a big way.  But some of the tunes here that had vocals weren't nearly as pleasing.  Not to mention, overall this album wasn't as adventurous I felt sad.  Baths, however, returned with the much more enjoyable 'Obsidian" in 2013.  This album returned to Will's wildly adventurous roots.  Tracks like "No Past Lives" and "Earth Death" were curiously heavy and looming, while other tracks like "No Eyes" remained the Experimental Pop that fans had come to love from Baths.  But this album also showed Will incorporating more vocals to his music.  Which is totally fine, it made this album stand out from the rest of his work rather nicely.  However, it also leads to some of the album's more awkward moments, like "Incompatible". Now, it's been a few years since we've heard from Baths.  These new singles though have been lively, fun, quirky, and most of all show that Will is so much more comfortable singing.  Let's talk about this new Baths album!

    This album starts off with “Yeoman”, and I love just how sun-shiny and cheery this intro is.  But Will right off the bat shows us just how off-kilter he can make the sounds of Baths.  The synths are constantly shifting, changing tones and really helping Will’s music come off incredibly animated.  Now, let’s talk about these vocals.  Will sounds so much more comfortable with his melodies here.  On his last album “Obsidian”, I thought Will really still needed to work on that.  But this track is wild, experimental, and fun.  It’s also seriously touching, which always amazes me when Electronic artists can pull off.  I love just how expressive Will’s performance is as well, and just how colorful “Yeoman” continues to be.  This is easily some of the most fun I’ve had with Pop Music this year, even though it’s far from an accessible pop tune.  The instrumentals are all so lavish and seem to have their own personalities, what an awesome intro.  “Extrasolar” up next isn’t nearly as punchy or as cheery, but I actually really love the low-key groove on this one.  To be honest, I’ve never realized just how much I love Will’s voice.  It’s not a normal pop voice, it’s full of little quirks that certainly make it far from perfect, but it’s still charming.  The instrumentals Will keeps bringing to the table seem to be constantly shifting, unable to stay still.  But I can’t remember Will’s music ever sounding so vast and alive, it’s actually beautiful.  “Extrasolar” is far from your normal Pop tune or Electronic tune, but Will presents it wonderfully in a way that anyone can dive in.  The production on this album continues to be mighty warm and inviting with “Abscond”.  I love the jolly, more accessible instrumental on this one that really is much more in the line of straight up pop.  It almost reminds me of a much more interesting Pop tune from one of those Emo bands that tried their hand with this style.  But it’s just so bouncy and colorful that it’s so likable.  But I really think what makes tracks like “Abscond” work is Will’s performance.  His performance here is just so tender and actually seriously sweet.  Will’s writing these incredible love songs that quite frankly I didn’t know he had in him.  Then we have “Human Bog”, and I do love how all of these tracks start out so serene as Will really eases us into what he’s doing.  Now, I do really like the wonky production and the vibrant atmospheres.  But for my liking, the only major issue I have with this album are some of the ballads.  I see what Will’s trying to do on “Human Bog”, and I wholeheartedly respect it.  But I feel like that his vocals are just so much more interesting up against some more snappy and wild pop tunes.  When I hear the vocals within this track, I feel like I’m right back listening to “Obsidian” and feeling that Will isn’t nearly as comfortable with what he’s performing.  There are some wonderful, warm instrumentals here, and I do think lyrically Will continues to really know his audience.  But outside of that, this track is a little underwhelming.

    This album trudges on with the upbeat and strangely chaotic “Adam Copies”. Will’s very animated vocals along with this one’s hectic atmosphere actually make it seriously exciting. If the instrumentals before were constantly shifting and changing, this is next level. But that makes this one so interesting is just how intense it is. The instrumentals are still certainly playful, but they also pack a serious punch. The elongated instrumental break about hallways through however tones things down and is seriously beautiful. This album so far has been really wild, and makes it hard to sit still listening to it. Not to mention, I would seriously love to hear more heavy tracks like this from Will. The beat on “Adam Copies” hits so hard, and his intense screams towards the end are completely animalistic. I love this damn tune. Now, “Lev” once again sort of underwhelms me once again, it’s all of these softer tunes here I tell ya. I actually like the somber tone to the instrumentals here, and how much emotion there is in that. But it’s Will’s vocal performance that once again really doesn’t affect me. Plus, at only 2 minutes long, this really doesn’t have any time to get started. Now “I Form” actually goes in a much more quaint, singer/songwriter direction, which is actually a really interesting addition to the album. It actually ends up working really great. Will’s performance is once again mighty endearing and sweet, and everything about this instrumental remains wild and colorful. I love some of the backing sound effects that give “I Form” a seriously experimental edge. While all the while, Will’s performance and some of the strings really bring this one down and make it easier to swallow. This is a truly bizarre album, but I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun listening to Pop music. “I Form” is just so driving and intense, I love it all. This new Baths album in a weird way actually sounds like Passion Pit on a whole lot of Party Drugs. Then we have “Out” which has this super nice, thick groove which is just so bouncy and enjoyable. It’s moments like this that Will’s straight up Pop star comes out inside, and it’s a great moment. I love the snarky hook here and Will’s more delicate vocals that pop in. This album remains so vibrant and constantly shifting, it really does keep you engaged. It’s bouncy, fun, and totally far out there with some of the most experimental production, you’ll hear this year.

    “Superstructure” is up next, and as this album goes on, Will gets more and more fearless.  This is easily the most bizarre and experimental tune here yet, and it’s got quite the amount of interesting instrumentals in some strings as well as some others as well.  But this one picks up into another really intense and wild electronic tune.  Vocally, I wouldn’t say this is my favorite Will performance here, lyrically too.  To be honest, lyrically I’ve enjoyed how his sweeter lyrics have made this album a little easier to digest, which doesn’t really play a factor on “Superstructure”.  Vocally I’ve heard him a whole lot more charming too.  But ironically, I think Will still pulls it off and keeps my interest with this very intense beat and wild instrumental palette.  “Wilt” on the other hand once again is a really seriously quaint Piano Pop tune.  But Will sounds like he’s just so comfortable in this role.  It’s obviously far south of the rest of the tunes here, and this is obviously easily the most accessible tune here (even though the production is still mighty abrasive).  Will just sounds so sweet behind the Piano performing this ballad.  If he could take this quaint sound and make it even more adventurous sound, I really think he could make an album even better than the one he has here.   “Coitus” is up next, and I have to stress that Will really has to stop with these ballad tunes, cause this is really bad.  I think the production is really cool, and it is nice to hear Will behind the piano again.  And I DO really love just how sweet and endearing his lyrics are.  But come on, there really isn’t anything about his performance outside of that, that tells me this is a Baths tune.  There are some seriously lovely instrumentals, but it’s nothing that I haven’t heard at other points in this album.  Thankfully, with the finale “Broadback”, Will makes it clear that he still has quite a few more ideas in the tank.  I love the glitchy production, and just how heavy some of the instrumentals come off.  Not to mention, after hearing his very reserved performance, hearing his wild performance on “Broadback” is just so refreshing.  It’s intense, it’s fun, and it’s just so damn likable.  Also, this may just be the most melodic Will has sounded here. 

Rating: 8.2/10

Give  A Listen To: "Yeoman", "Abscond", "Adam Copies", "I Form"

Genre: Experimental Pop / Electronic / Glitch

Overall Thoughts:  This quite frankly, is the Experimental Pop album that I really needed to hear this year.  This album shows Will Wiesenfield at his most creative and emotional.  He's done music with vocals and lyrics before, but it's never come off this strong.  Will sounds like a real star here, blending vibrant and playful Electronic beats with Pop hooks in a way that I haven't really heard this year.