Album Review: Flume - Hi This Is Flume
The emerging space in the mainstream for a greater variety of music genres has not only allowed more experimental producers to find space working with a number of prolific singers and rappers, but has also grown an audience for those producers to make their own music. But where someone like SOPHIE has demonstrated a stunning, futuristic vision both in her work for other artists (names as varied and forward-thinking as Vince Staples and Charli XCX) and on her 2018 album OIL OF EVERY PEARL'S UN-INSIDES, Australian producer Flume has yet to adequately demonstrate his art's appeal. Still, where 2016's Skin was an aberrant, bloated annoyance, his new mixtape Hi This Is Flume is catchier, stranger, and more succinct, a substantial improvement on virtually all fronts.
Any enhancements in Flume's general sound are fairly subtle; his wonky, glitch hop style which incorporates elements of everything from trap to EDM is still just as warped as it is vexing. Much of what is on Hi This Is Flume feels more than anything like senseless electronic noise gutted of anything resembling forethought or accessibility. Though the material here is much more bearable simply by virtue of being shorter, the second half of the mixtape in particular is just too unfamiliar to get hooked in. From MUD's shrill, irksome highs to Daze 22.00 and its overuse of distorted bass and 808-heavy percussion, no time is given to develop or acclimate a sound before rushing onto the next.
Some moments are a bit more tolerable; Upgrade, with its digital, almost woodwind-sounding synths and constant vocal interjections, does fittingly ramp up the tension over its length, and cuts like Vitality and Amber are right at the border of catchy and eerie to create a strangely compelling distraction. Unfortunately, not only are such improvements inconsistent, their short length has them leaving almost as soon as they arrive. Not that every track on a project has to be undeniably groovy, but with few vocal features and a homogeneous mass of abnormal sounds, Flume's efforts leave little room for listeners to latch on to.
That being said, what guests are present here are used with much greater effectiveness that on Skin. Where Vince Staples' admirable verse on Smoke & Retribution was largely drowned out by obnoxious synth interjections, JPEGMAFIA energetically dominates How to Build a Relationship from front to back with impressive flow and menacing lines: "Fresh smile, gold tooth/Heat to your skull, catch me in a cold mood". SOPHIE herself aids on production for the ambient and chopped-up Voices, creating the most successful mix of innovation and structure to be found on the mixtape.
Speaking of SOPHIE, also included on here is a remix of her track Is It Cold in the Water?, which adds on to the original's ethereal, glitched vibe with sections of stuttered percussion and filtered vocals. Respectable additions, perhaps, but arguably not enough to justify extending the cut's length by over a minute while simultaneously removing all lyrics from both the song's verses, leading to an entertaining yet repetitive rework. That SOPHIE's work, both solo and on this very project, is so blatantly more enjoyable than Flume's is maybe the most evident flaw of his unique style.
Hi This Is Flume plays host to a great many ideas from Flume's soundboard, yet few of them feel fleshed-out or approachable enough to make for a fun listen. It is difficult to hate this project, however, both for its remarkably creative highs and for how, even at its weakest, its exploratory nature can't help but push its parent genres forward. Any mainstream success for Flume in the near future will most likely be fleeting, but it is far from impossible that the work on projects like this will inspire both peers and future producers, not to mention etch out a spot in popular music for music a bit more eccentric than what the public is used to.
6/10
Favourite Tracks: How to Build a Relationship, Voices, Amber
https://open.spotify.com/album/2Vx9FC6Um8i6kEtY7HNswB