The Octopus is incredibly clever and powerful, and sometimes he likes to use that to his advantage, looking into the future to catch a glimpse of big releases that are just on the horizon. Here, he relays his findings to you, and lets you know what to expect from upcoming albums and other releases.
This week: Porter Robinson's new album, Worlds.
Few electronic albums have managed to garner as much hype as this recently. It's been a long time coming, but in under 20 days, Porter Robinson will drop his debut album, Worlds. We know it's bound to be good - come on, it's Porter f'ing Robinson - but do we know exactly what to expect? Read on to find out what we do and don't know about Porter's forthcoming album.
Surprisingly, although we've not heard an awful lot of material from it, we probably have a better idea about what Worlds will sound like than most other forthcoming albums. Over the past few months, Porter has made a very clear statement of intent for his debut record, and it's going to be like nothing we've heard from him before (album singles aside, of course). Before we talk about that in greater depth, though, let's take a quick look at how we reached this point.
It'd be fair to say that Porter is not the sort of artist that's in a hurry to get stuff out of the door. His last major release, the Spitfire EP, was released all the way back in 2011. In the electronic music scene, that's pretty much an eternity. But it's now obvious that the time has been spent well, and that a lot of evolution and consideration about style and direction have occurred during that period.
The gritty, bass-y electro? Gone. Totally. That's just not what Porter's into anymore. The last track like that I can remember hearing was a preview of a song called Take Me Home, back in 2012. He later said he was reconsidering that particular release, and indeed, it never showed up. It was sort of evident even then that this wasn't what the young producer wanted to be doing. It felt like his electro style taken to an extreme, almost like a parody of himself. It was time to dial things back.
Step forward Language and Easy. The two hugely popular singles that came next were still electro, but far more refined, toned down, and with more of an emphasis on song writing and melody than let's-make-the-filthiest-sound-possible. It was a change that worked.
Fast forward to where we are now, and we've heard three tracks from his forthcoming album that give us a very good idea of what to expect: Sea Of Voices, Sad Machine, and Lionhearted. Whatever people were expecting from Porter's new album, this was probably not it. The new songs are reminiscent of tracks from the likes of Passion Pit, M83, or in the case of Sea Of Voices, even Sigur Rös. Despite what may have been a bit of an initial shock, people have really taken to this new Porter, with the tracks amassing millions of plays on SoundCloud.
What about the rest of the album then? Well, if you're hoping for a return to more electro tendencies, or anything resembling Language or Easy, prepare to be disappointed. Porter himself has said that much. Instead, expect to hear other angles that show his new approach to making music, displaying his new found songwriting skills, and material that is altogether more delicate and thoughtful.
It's clear with this release that Porter wants to create something more substantial than throwaway dance music, and that's where the Worlds concept comes in. It feels like he's almost crafting a universe that he wants all of us to be a part of, but one where we're to try to interpret everything how we see fit. This new concept and ethos about his work will be further bolstered with his upcoming live shows, where a lot of his old tracks are being 'Worlds-ified' .
So while we have a pretty good idea what will and won't be on the album, the most interesting thing about this release, is that every single listener will almost certainly have a totally different experience, and will come away from it with their own ideas and interpretation. And from the sounds of it, that's exactly what Porter wants.
Porter Robinson's brand new album, Worlds, will be available on 11 August. You can preorder it here.
Writer, musician, and all-round top guy. I set up Excited Octopus. Currently, I'm on a one man team. It gets lonely sometimes. But I don't mind, because I love you all.
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