predictable

aldn

Listening to Jane Remover has launched me on a bit of hyperpop journey. I was recommended a few different artists I have absolutely no background on, and as of late, I've been looking more into one of those recommendations in particular; the new aldn EP. After many listens however, I'm not finding a whole lot to talk about here. For a hyperpop record, it is a little bland; not nearly as colourful or adventurous as what I'd expect from someone associated with this genre. The tuned vocals are really the only vaguely hyperpop sounding thing, but I find the similarities more closely matches the sleepy elements of Drain Gang cloud rap, which admittedly is not really to my taste. There's a few interesting synth tones that caught my ear though, like the dancing, twinkly synths at the beginning of the title track, as well as the strange, vibrato synths that sound like sampled Animal Crossing dialog on glass words. There is a genuinely great pop tune on here though, and that's n2o. It sounds almost like Oracular Spectacular era MGMT with the distorted bass synth and the classic sawtooth synth lead. I also really love the vocal melody, and the woozy performance lends well to the subject matter.

When it comes to the rest I'm feeling mostly indifferent. The songs aren't really sticking with me all that much and I'm not hearing anything all that unique that sets aldn apart from other 'pop futurists.' I guess I also didn't really vibe with the tone of the EP. Many tracks here have this dark, brooding tone that is something I don't really look for in pop music. It makes sense why I'm drawn to the happier and euphoric moments like n2o and glass words. There's song writing potential there no doubt and the project is produced quite well, so it certainly has that going for it. Even though I wasn't completely enamored with the style or tone, I'm still glad to have given this a chance. Who knows, perhaps I will have turned you on to something new that you vibe with a little more than I did.