If you’re familiar with the concept of the butterfly effect, you know that it describes the phenomena in which the fluttering of a butterfly’s wings unfold a series of events that can change the world. It’s a rather metaphysical interpretation of the concept of predestination, but nonetheless poetic. It’s enough to make you take a second to look around and wonder, how did we get here?
After Laughter had every reason to not exist, but it does. It was born from pain, grown in nostalgia, and dyed in hot pink syrup. It’s a celebration of the devastating feeling of being alive and feeling like a ragdoll in the washing machine of life. To think that this album could have never happened is a true testament to the will of the universe. Let me explain:
The decision to make an album a self-titled project is not taken lightly. It’s a defining moment for a musician, stating than an album is the defining work of their career. Paramore the album certainly did that and more, receiving double platinum for the singles Ain’t It Fun and Still Into You, and even winning a Grammy for the former. So, after riding the high of success and critical acclaim, how does Paramore top Paramore? By completely reinventing themselves.
The metamorphosis of Paramore was both by force and by choice, but the reasons for their change is less important as the process and the pain. While each of us go through the growing pains of life uniquely, we all share in the thunderous downpour of struggle and strife.
While we suffer, we survive. We take the pain and laugh while we cry. Personally, this album came at such an important time in my life, and I would have been directionless without it. I connected to the unfairness of it all, the lamenting of the hard times and the feeling of being burned by the same fire over and over again. But it also taught me to dance through the pain, that sadness was okay, so long as it was balanced by a good dose of body shaking.
I just want to thank Paramore, the universe, and any other butterfly wing that allowed this album to come into my life at the time it did, and that I also get to have a front row seat at the experience of seeing this band grow as musicians and as people. To many more years AL; cry hard, dance harder.
On the floor we could lie down baby
Eye to eye
Got some green and my lips are soft
You wanna try
There’s no denying Kasbo knows how to write a hook, especially on a track like this which features one of the best vocalists on the album (who is uncredited). x
Everybody Wants To Be Famous (Spotify Sessions) - Superorganism
Stripping down their most successful single, harmonies are better appreciated throughout the track as well as some tasteful and quirky production aspects.
This track in particular does the best job at matching vocal style with production feeling out of the tracks on his newest album, allowing the listener to experience a peacefulness not unlike that of the stillness of snowfall. x
Truly owning Camila Cabello’s smash hit, its incredible to see the way this relatively new band is able to establish a signature sound so early on in their career.
Yeah the ball is rolling past the two of us
But your feet ain’t moving, are you cool with us?
And I’m caught in your mind but it’s like you’ve had enough
I wish you’d just tell me to go
Keiynan Lonsdale totally steals the show on this track, with a voice like butter and some perfectly executed, light-as-air production from Kasbo. x
I wish that I could like, my feelings are sincere
But every time I try to, it kinda disappears
I know how much you love me, mmm, and want me to love you
But every time I try to, ooh, the feelings end there
Fresh off a new album drop, Toni Braxton’s iconic voice has returned with another tender ballad.
Kasbo Reaches Uncharted Territory on Places We Don’t Know
One of my favorite parts of discovering new music is being able to find an artist in the early stages of their career. It not only is indicative of the time and current influences in the current landscape of music, as these new artists are likely influenced by artists and projects released a few years prior, but is also seemingly brimming with potential.
Places We Don’t Know is the debut album from electronic producer Kasbo, who gained notoriety among the e-electronica scene for remixes to popular songs like Fall Together by Temper Trap and Big Gigantic’s Little Things. So, despite this being his first LP, he has quite the established discography and notoriety, especially when tied to ODESZA’s Foreign Family Collective. So, how does a well-established artist approach his first LP? By shooting for the moon.
Allow me to elaborate: Places We Don’t Know, in short, is like a resume someone would create for a very sought-after, high-paying job opportunity. It hits all its basic requirements; a catchy hook here, some simple and pleasant lyrics there, while never really going too in-depth into specifics. It’s nice, and certainly passes every test in the book to be chock-full of radio-friendly and festival-ready hits, but its not really all that memorable or innovative.
Take for example Stay With Me, a perfectly fine song with nothing inherently wrong with it, but overall rather lackluster and severely lacking a real climax. The same feelings apply to other tracks like About You and The Voice Says, which by this point in the album feels rather like falling into an afternoon nap.
The project is not without its own form of highs, however. There’s no denying Kasbo knows how to write a hook, such as on the catchy Your Tempo which features one of the best vocalists on the album (who is uncredited). Aldrig Mer (feat. TENDER) does a great job of intertwining low and airy vocals into a percussive and soft chorus. Keiynan Lonsdale easily steals the show on Lay It On Me, with a voice like butter in higher and lower registers, fitting perfectly into the mid-tempo production. Snow in Gothenburg does the best job at matching vocal style with production feeling, allowing the listener to experience a peacefulness not unlike that of the stillness of snowfall.
Places We Don’t Know really shines for me, however, when Kasbo returns to his production roots. The title track goes the “hardest”, for lack of a better term considering the whole album is as abrasive as a pile of feathers. Allowing his intuitive production to really shine reminds us of what he’s really capable of, when he’s not trying so damn hard to be more accessible.
Maybe it was Odesza’s own influence in being rather successful at lyrical integration that made Kasbo want to turn in that direction. Being that Odesza’s stylistic influence is so palpable in his entire discography, it’s not too much of a stretch. Either way, I’ll skip the show and go straight to the DJ set.
Highlight Tracks:
Places We Don’t Know
Lay It On Me (feat. Keiynan Lonsdale)
Snow in Gothenburg
Your Tempo
Aldrig Mer (feat. TENDER)
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