What's up, guys! How ARE you. Hello and welcome, as I am here for a review.
I was initially terrified to even listen to this album, because I had built it up so much in my head over the past four years, I had no idea what to expect, I was afraid that it would suck, that it would be hated by everyone for being too 2k9, that every review would just be "chillwave is dead;' airbrushed directly onto a screen. When Stereogum had a thing about The Glitzy Hive a week before the album was released, they were like "well ummmm its really 2k9 lol" and I was freaking, man! Worrying about your favourite band's relevance is an unfamiliar feeling on this forum, the sensations were new and overpowering. And then the album started streaming, and... I didn't like it! I couldn't remember a bar, like Ax. Maybe it was because I was listening to it on my laptop's speakers, so it sounded like a wax cylinder recording being played on a Commodore 64, but I felt flat and afraid. And then, finally, it all sunk in.
this album is fUCKING GREAT
& fuck stereogpum.
Seriously, this album is so much more dense and conceptual than his earlier stuff, I'm just absolutely rapt. Everything about it is absolutely wonderful once all the layers in the songs sink in. It's also absolutely thematically perfect for this stage of my life, and god, the tunes man! Dear Skorpio Magazine, Smut!, News From the Sun, C'est La Vie, The Glitzy Hive. They're all fucking great. I loved Annie and Slumlord, but was deeply afraid they would be the only standouts. But I love every damn track, I've had the album on almost nonstop for the past month and am still not inclined to stop. I legit think it is equal to To Pimp A Butterfly on the ol ultrafav, and it may in fact be better because it does not end with Alan Palomo speaking to the spirit of Giorgio Moroder.