The Flashbulb
(A.K.A. Benn Jordan) takes petty things like genres, gives them the evil eye,
crumbles them up and will continue to throw them into the garbage can never to
be seen again. He has been doing this for years and his blend of glitch and IDM
with jazzy melodies and structures has earned him a rightful place as
electronic music royalty. And he does so with an unstoppable enthusiasm,
releasing album after album with remarkable speed. Does that harm the quality
of the music? Not in the slightest. One might even argue that “Opus at the End of Everything”, an album
he released earlier this year contains some of his most thought out and themed songs
to date. And now, a mere nine months later, he is on the verge of releasing his
next effort “Hardscrabble” on the 23rd
of October. And we’ve got our hands on an early copy.
Another
thing I have learned along the way: I like dynamics in music. I like complex
rhythms and unconventional melodies and even though Opus was full of memorable moments and remains an album that is
loved by his fans, including myself, it missed the structured chaos of The
Flashbulb’s earlier works. Hardscrabble sees
a swift return to the roots of The Flashbulb without abandoning his recent love
for complex melodies and sees him adding even more sounds to the mix. The album
opener “Back to the Yards” is a chaotic
and dynamic snapshot of dubstep if dubstep had even the slightest clue how to
even be dynamic. The thing with Benn Jordan is that he always manages to peak
your interest when it comes to things like sound and rhythm, even in songs
where there’s no emotion to be found and the music sounds quite detached and
chaotic. “The Bridgeport Run” and “I
Saw the Sky” mix up the evocative and emotive sound we’ve come to know from
his previous releases. The abrasiveness from his even earlier work and are
filled to the brim with interesting textures and immersive sounds.
I think the
keyword here is immersion. The album really tries its hardest to take you in,
with varying success. As dynamic as this album is, it falls short as a cohesive
product. Something that Opus did
superbly. But this could just be the experience I’m having and me expecting
another orchestrated and evocative release like Opus. But does that mean that this album has lost any of the
musical brilliance and introspective feel of “Soundtrack to a Vacant Life” and Opus at the End of Everything? In one word: No. It’s just a
different album with a different concept and as a result of that it has a
different feel. It doesn’t tug your heartstrings like Opus did, but it sonically is a more interesting album. The disc
contains plenty of moments that make your ears perk up, “One Melted Birthday Cake” being a prime example of this. And from
the dissonance of analogue-heavy “Last
Bank” and the 303 goodness of “Three
Hundred CC”, to the emotional “Skype
Piano” hear that you’re dealing with someone who knows how to craft a good
album and I’m sure this will be a delightful album to hear him perform live.
Fans of the older albums will love this return to the IDM track of old, and
fans of the newer albums will love the melodies and (amazing!) guitar work.
Ultimately,
Benn manages to create something that could easily match his previous work,
whilst still bringing new material to the table without forcing it. And that´s always a good thing, I expected no less from someone as talented as Benn Jordan.
~Chris
8.3