Okay y'all..so I heard No Geography ahead of release...before I give my thoughts lemme just say...never going to do another listening party again! It ruined the experience for me because the people there kept skipping through the whole album and were talking during each track so I couldn't even hear it in full or take it all in! Right when we were at the middle someone skipped to the latter end of the album then back to the beginning!
Spoiler
In spite of that, the album itself was quite amazing, far more cohesive than Born In The Echoes, there were some weak spots but it's overall solid! Bear in mind these are first impressions based on what the party allowed me to take in.
The first three tracks went seamlessly into each other.
Eve Of Destruction was changed up quite a bit from the 2017 demo but feels overall more full/satisfying, extra vocals from Aurora and new takes on the synths the brothers had used on the track since it's premiere. Nene shines in her own robotic rap in the middle of the song, but it almost feels forced compared to the rest of the disco vibes the song has. In spite of this, it works for the next song.
To me, Bango has to be the best track on the whole album, a VERY welcome return to form for the brothers. It's very reminiscent of Morning Lemon and their early breakbeat style, the bango vocal along with Aurora's vocals are very hypnotizing. The samples/synth melodies spread throughout really add to the beats/vibe of the whole song.
No Geography I didn't get to have too much of a good listen to because of how many people were talking, but it had a very distinct 80s vibe with the drums and synths, along with a vocal almost similar to the Acid Test vocal heard during the 2019 tour at the beginning of Escape Velocity.
Got To Keep On, nothing new to report, amazing track nonetheless, however Gravity Drops seemed like the more forgetful of the bunch, that one I didn't really get to take in as much but upon first impression it didn't stick as much with me.
The Universe Sent Me is very out of leftfield for the brothers, it has more of a EDM vibe but with an unmistakable chemical signature. Imagine Asleep From Day and Wide Open having a lovechild in a way. Not really the Sunshine Underground or Escape Velocity y'all would hope for but there are some parts on the song that come extremely close, especially in the synths and build ups. It's a beautiful track but not on the par I was expecting. Aurora making multiple appearances on the album seem to really bring out the psychedelic/animalistic nature of each track, granted she sings much more than Stephanie Dosen has, it still works.
WGTG, FY, MAH nothing new to report, all are destined to become classics in all honesty! Granted the FY album version is an improvement over the single version, the intro is edited but it still sounds great.
Sad to say, wasn't too pleased with Catch Me I'm Falling, it was very mellow compared to the monster that is MAH, but it was the type that wasn't so satisfying, say compared to other album closers. The build-ups really went nowhere and it felt more all over the place than the rest of the songs on the album, granted the synth arpeggios really bring better closure, and some areas of the song sounded quite euphoric, it would've been better if the build ups/synth leads present went somewhere!
Overall in spite of just those two songs, the album overall is honestly solid, a very welcome return to the brothers' roots with a cutting edge vibe that had been missing in their recent works!
Please remember that these are only first impressions, I'll give a more proper review once the album is out!
