theyd only covered three tracks by them (one was a remix) and had always generally never been too high on them (except for panning their earliest reviewed hard)
love the way "boyfriend"'s chorus collides into the verse i never feel like they're making pop music but that they're making the aesthetics of pop obey the physics of their own established songwriting. "boyfriend"'s chorus is super asymmetrical and weird...like a tegan and sara song
Boyfriend is a little ehh, not massive on it. U-Turn musically sounds massive and I like that but something's missing.
I was going to go for the deluxe bundle and I'd love to but that's a lot of money and I don't feel like it's that much of an upgrade for the price tag. I do wish the shirts didn't cost more than the smaller bundle though.
After hearing those two songs...nope nope nope nope. Don't understand the transition into flat out mainstream poppy nonsense. I dug these women since If It Was You but they started to lose me with The Con, pulled me back in with Sainthood and then lost me completely with Hearthrob. Then again, their song with Tiesto is one of my favorite things they've ever put out, really not sure why since I don't like that type of music. I know myself and I will listen to this album just as I've done the others, but these two songs have left such a bad taste in my mouth.
Have you read any of the interviews they've done since Heartthrob? Besides their influences moving in this direction, they're trying to continue to sustain them career and make a living. This is the next step for them. The songwriting is just as quality as it's always been, it's just placed over a different sonic landscape
Yea I know I get it, I'm not saying they're selling out...the electronica/techno-pop is just not my cup o' tea. The lyrics are still the same, yea, but the music behind the words is just as important to me.
I wasn't trying to imply that it's not. If it's not you're thing that's fine, but I think brushing this off as "mainstream poppy nonsense" is incredibly reductive
I loved Heartthrob and I know synthpop is the "cool" thing to be doing now but I hope this album might be a little different. I don't think they've ever made the exact same style of album twice in a row but this just seems like back to back electro pop albums based on these 2 songs. (Obviously there's 8 more songs to come so I'm not judging. And I LOVE U turn). I'm sure they agonized over it and worked really hard etc but they're so good at the style it's probably kinda "easier" for them to write 3 minute pop songs.
I'd argue that the lyrics aren't the same. I think Heartthrob was a huge step back in that regard. There was nothing as complex and interesting lyrically, as Arrow or On Directing or Night Watch just off the top of my head from Sainthood. I have no issue with them taking on new sounds and making a career out of this - which is obviously what I would want too - but I'm really worried that I'm going to completely lose interest as they do it. I think Boyfriend is the worst song they've released since the first album back in 2000. I really, really wish it wasn't the case, but it's completely uninteresting for me, and stale in a way that I've never heard from them before. U Turn is good, and gives me hope for whatever else comes next. I'm not going to pretend that I'm not concerned about this record though.
I think the lyrics have gotten a lot more accessible but I don't think that makes them better or worse. Talking about "Boyfriend" specifically, this song is really exciting to me and it kind of bums me out to see people writing it off. This is a song that could break into mainstream radio that's very specifically about what some same sex relationships about. The idea that a song very explicitly about a girl dating another girl and trying to get comfortable within a same sex relationship could end up being blasted across the radio is a huge deal.