Wild Nothing, aka Jack Tatum, has released a solid catalog of material by consistently building building upon his specific style of dreamy, wistful, and lush indie pop. Nocturne, his 2nd LP, was one of 2012's better releases, and it is somewhat of a surprise to see an EP of new material, titled The Empty Estate, so soon after. More interestingly, it is apparent from the first single, "Dancing Shell," that this new EP marks a shift in style away from the consistency of his earlier releases. The Empty Estate signals a departure, and in that vein, this EP seems more about sketching out what a shift in style might sound like, making the record somewhat noncommittal. Yet, as loosely defined as this record may be, The Empty Estate is a promising introduction to the next phase of Tatum's work.
The Empty Estate opens with "The Body in Rainfall," a familiar sounding Wild Nothing song that also falls completely flat. This track is decidedly weak, as if to purposely establish that maybe Tatum's previous sound has been exhausted of ideas and creative potential. Now, I doubt that was the intent (and if so represents a level of mind games I almost admire), but, when the record is already so short, this opening track substantially weakens the whole. Thankfully following "The Body in Rainfall," The Empty Estate completely shifts direction to something more interesting.
With "Ocean Repeating (Big-eyed Girl)," Tatum drastically changes gears. The reference points are still the same, there is a fixation with 80's and 90's sounds but where the dream pop angle was more pronounced, this new material is more electronic with fuzziness giving way to a sort of machine like clarity. These songs open onto something more luxurious and sprawling and are decidedly more rhythmic and fluid than previous output. It still sounds distinctly like Wild Nothing but this sound has been successfully taken somewhere else.
Following from this is a series of even further departures in the form of mostly synth instrumental pieces featuring minimal, if any, vocal parts. These middle songs are even more of a departure, electronic instrumentals more akin of to the soundtrack of an undetermined science fiction TV show. Here, Tatum seems to be provisionally sketching out his new direction. And while these work, they sound more like library music and less like a series of distinct pop songs. These middle tracks are well done, but they do not come together in any sort of meaningful way beyond a series of experiments.
The record culminates in "A Dancing Shell," a track whose rhythm pops up at various points throughout the middle section. "A Dancing Shell is the point where these new style crystallizes the most and actually is one of the stronger songs across Tatum's work to date. It is a large song, featuring blaring, phasing synth and a conversational vocal style. The single meshes well with the video, a animated short featuring a geometric character wandering the landscape of something you might see hanging in your dentists office circa 1986 (which is a strangely apt metaphor for the whole record's visual style). From there though, the album seems to exhaust itself and the last song is a gently fading, barely there instrumental.
Whether this EP is merely a brief experiment or the first hint of a new direction, it is a welcome change all the same. The Empty Estate suggests that Wild Nothing is capable of doing something more rhythmic, blending his usual soft focus wistfulness in with a discernible beat. Ignoring the lackluster opening track, this EP is a welcome experiment.
Grade: B
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