Very weird album. Not as hyperbolically bad as I was expecting -- I like it more than I don't -- but I have to agree that the club tracks are largely unengaging and feel like they lack evolution. Really kind of just makes me wish I was listening to better house music. The first two tracks are genuinely bad, which is a first for him, but the singles have grown on me exponentially, and "Piece of Heaven" has some CRAZY 80s Enya shit going on. Just kind of all over the place, stylistically and from a quality standpoint. Interesting in hearing was @beatingheartsbaby thinks
The guy who's given us four majestic openers in a row really thinks he did something with My Old Ways and I don't get it at all
I’m used to singles being the most safe songs and often the more experimental stuff that isn’t single worthy ends up being my fav on albums, but Dracula is just so good and keeps growing on me and to me, there isn’t nearly enough experimentation. What’s more frustrating is not only is he more than capable of it in this style, but he showed glimpses of it on Ethereal Connection and the end of Not My World. Other than that I keep going back and forth but I feel like I’ll land on liking this more than many seem to, but never loving it
Those are the exact two that I feel like actually change and warp into something by the end that makes them worthwhile. I like "Afterthought" and I'm in the minority enjoying "End of Summer," but I think "Not My World" and "Ethereal Connection" are the two club tracks here that actually show stylistic growth. The rest is shockingly stale for someone who seems so in-tune with what makes certain genres of music exciting
Afterthought is good but I think it got ruined a bit for me because I hadn’t heard the album in full and someone called it this albums “Is it True” and that’s just insulting to the latter imo lol. I just feel like it’s possible he lost some of his inspiration, because genuinely good house music with his signature touch I think would still lose fans, but would open him up to enter the DJ scene and reach an entire new demographic. I don’t see that happening because House fans aren’t gonna listen to this and be like “wow, this is next level house music”. Maybe he wanted it to be more minimalist? But there’s plenty of albums that exercise restraint in powerful ways and this also doesn’t feel like that. Even though some of this sounds harsh, I still feel like it could end up being like a 7/10 for me once it grows a bit but that’s tops
I refuse to be convinced that him having that many people playing guitar wasn’t a direct troll to those saying they are upset by the lack of guitar on his new work lmao. What a great take on Borderline
I thought my old ways was one of the only really good songs tbh. Most of this is just so sauceless. Not even bad just boring. This probably makes no sense considering tame is his solo project but this would make so much more sense under the name Kevin Parker and not tame impala
I know dj Sabrina was name checked (hell yeah) but this is also just making me want to go listen to dj Seinfeld or Ross from friends too
That was me ! I heard DJ Seinfeld mentioned recently (possibly by Sabrina actually?) what would you recommend to start with ?
In happier news, the new Bob Moses record that came out today fucks …house elements with guitars done right.
Awesome thanks ! Gonna dive in tonight, I found Charmed when I was searching for “albums for falling in love” lmao and I remembered the name from the 1975 connection, and since then I’ve been really into dance stuff, even moving towards it in my own music. Prob why I like Dracula so much, that one gets me moving
DJ Sabrina is very cool, but I have never listened to any of her projects more than once lol, they are way too long
For me it’s the fact I am so connected to Charmed but the idea of going into another album that length intimidates me but I can handle that one, esp on a long drive
Not to derail the Tame discussion, but other good house artists that bring the feels are Logic1000 and Kornel Kovacs
Boy, an Australian accent really comes in clutch when trying to rhyme "Dracula" with "spectacular" lol
Honestly enjoying this album. Maybe it's because it's keeping my daughter asleep right now but I didn't think it's bad at all, definitely not to the level of the hot takes in here
Yeah I’ve enjoyed this. Front half resonates with me more than the back half, but I had a positive first listen of this
I’m also liking this more than most in here and especially /r/indieheads. I’m very curious to see how these are expanded in a live setting. If only I could find Austin tickets for less than the cost to fly there lol.