Music: Porter Robinson; Childhood; Troye Sivan
Porter Robinson has been vocally critical of the aggressive, masculine “bro-step” that has dominated EDM for the past few years, a style associated with irreverent acts such as Skrillex.
Worlds
Alstralwerks
Porter Robinson has been vocally critical of the aggressive, masculine “bro-step” that has dominated EDM for the past few years, a style associated with irreverent acts such as Skrillex. The 22-year-old DJ’s antidote, let loose on his debut LP, Worlds, is an album of dreamy electronic music that’s tender and ethereal.
Worlds is not exactly EDM. The album owes an uncomfortable amount to synthy indie rock bands Passion Pit and M83; at times it sounds like pure tribute. Worlds is a reactive album but not an original one.
Robinson tends towards the saccharine. The songs are full of the same kind of self-serious, epically sentimental lyrics that littered Passion Pit’s albums. Robinson wants to replace the insistent aggression of bro-step with an invitation to love and be loved. At the best of times, that invitation is irresistible. Flicker incorporates a cutesy Japanese voice to funky effect. Hear the Bells is genuinely, bombastically moving. The album improves as it moves along. But there’s nothing that actually feels new here.
Lacuna
Marathon
There is nearly nothing on London quartet Childhood's new album, Lacuna, to distinguish it from any number of similar contemporary alt-rock bands. Wavves, Real Estate, the list goes on. Shoegaze, chillwave - Childhood incorporate these silly epithetical styles into an album that's pleasant but all too familiar.