Does Flume have thick Skin? Are you sceptical about Skepta? Is Ariana’s LP Grande? How is Dylan dealin’ with old age? Did Classixx just release one?
FLUME
SKIN
(Future Classic)
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IT took Sydney musician Flume four years to follow up his debut album, however plenty of other electronic acts were happy to make a start on it on his behalf.
That instant trademark sound Flume, aka Harley Streten, created as a teenager was shamelessly borrowed, most recently by Zedd for an M&Ms ad in the US.
Streten’s approached his second album smartly - it still sounds enough like Flume to not alienate anyone, but not enough like his debut album to lazily tread water.
And in Skin’s lead single Never Be Like You he’s demonstrated his grasp of making subversive pop now the mainstream has come to him. It had the usual clanking, peak-hour-rush approach to beats but with sweet harmonies and Kai’s heart-invading vocals. It quite rightly went to No.1 (and is knocking on the US Top 50) and has sent the bar sky-high for electronic pop this year.
Skin reflects his global power, with a mighty list of local and international collaborators (he knows lyrics are his kryptonite) but they’re far from the corporate mergers of many electronic acts.
Beck brings those vocals and some soft rock vibes to Tiny Cities which morphs into a magical mantra before your ears - think of how the Chemical Brothers used rock acts to create bittersweet symphonies.
Take a Chance with Swedish band Little Dragon splits almost mathematically what both acts do best, it’s tremendous. Streten’s always known how a passionate bespoke vocal can elevate what he does, seemingly adapting to suit the singer rather than just plonking them on top.
UK duo Aluna George (best known from Disclosure’s White Noise) surface on Innocence, where Streten channels a bit of Groove Armada’s dance hall vibes over a comedown excursion.
US rapper Vic Mensa shines on Lose It, providing a killer chorus hook that Streten highlights with what sounds like a robot playing a squeeze box and hitting a depth charge. Californian rapper Vince Staples has yet to fully blow up, but steers Smoke & Retribution with Perth artist Kucka. Streten moves into dark hip hop mode for the lyrically bleak You Know with rappers Allan Kingdom and Raekwon.
Kucka likes going left of centre and Streten joins her for the ride to make some deconstructed gold on Numb and Getting Colder.
Streten has built a friendship with Daniel Johns (no stranger to blurring the musical edges) and they co-wrote Top 10 hit Say It, with Swedish boundary rider Tove Lo. The trio again take advantage of the fact that electronic pop is a very pliable genre, as long as you have a huge melody and chorus to lure people in.
MNDR (remember her from Mark Ronson’s Bang Bang Bang) is untapped talent; her haunting, haunted vocals push Like Water somewhere even more special.
There’s naturally a few instrumental mindmelt with some of his unmistakeable Matrix-style frozen slow-mo beats - Wall F---, Helix and the haunting 3. Streten also gives good soundscape on interludes When Everything Was New and Pika.
The world was already his oyster. Now Flume’s served up a very classy main course./CAMERON ADAMS
Sounds like: Flume with a view
In a word: Fluminary
Buy them now, gwwwwwwarn:
https://www.jbhifi.com.au/music/browse/electronic/skin/952256/
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/faraway-reach/id1099199575
https://www.jbhifi.com.au/music/browse/pop/dangerous-woman-deluxe-edition/872185/
https://www.jbhifi.com.au/music/browse/rock-folk-pop/fallen-angels/948822/
https://www.jbhifi.com.au/Search/results/?keywords=skepta
Discuss all this and more with Cam and Mikey