It may seem like there’s nothing an artist’s fans distrust more than an abrupt turn from pop sensibility toward more “artsy” or “intellectual” destinations like dance/electronica…but the truth is, taking the reverse-route can be even more perilous. Cases-in-point: RJD2 couldn’t get away with pulling out an acoustic guitar, and DJ Shadow jackknifed into a pit of mediocre stubbornness after welcoming some of the most (IMO) uninspired rapping this side of the millennium.
Fortunately, we’ve caught the England-born but Montreal-based Deadboy while his career is still burgeoning, because otherwise, we might also end up taking this latest change in musical style as a similar sort of bullshit “personal affront” to our expectations.
See, where those two artists failed in their (admittedly) bold attempts to branch out, Deadboy has a mere small stack of EPs to live-up to. And let’s face it: nobody can be sure where you’re musically headed yet when EPs and singles comprise the whole of your oeuvre! So, in Deadboy’s case, it’s like — “yeah, those are my own autotuned vocals crooning sensuously all over the top of my debut full-length album for the Local Action label. Whatchugonnadoaboutit?”
That debut album is entitled Earth Body, and it comes out on out May 19. The music contained within its spacious, full-length borders is clearly a contrast from the danceable work that fit snugly into his former London scene. His 2011 EP Here was definitely an attention-getter at the time. Then White Magick foreshadowed the slowdown, and now we have something more immediately emotional — an admitted “pop record,” inspired by a “long-standing love of Scott Walker, Sade, Drake, and the Beach Boys.”
Oh well. Ride or get off the horse, as the personification of this video for album-opener “Caballero” might say:
Earth Body tracklisting:
01. Caballero
02. Water Body
03. Tide
04. Rain
05. Orion
06. Virtue Coast
07. Lo Heat
08. There is a Light
09. Laurier
More about: Deadboy
