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| Really big picture of a really big picture? Picception |
Does it count as a “I told you so” if I never
actually told you so? I remember it was about a year ago, I was listening to
some jams when I came across the group Autre Ne Veut. Silly French name aside,
I liked their single Sweetheart, it was electronic dance sure, but there was a
little something off about it too. Its penchant for indie vocals perhaps, the
weird beats, the single’s cover (which was a very close up picture of a certain
female reproductive organ); the song felt like it was one step away from being
totally classless. But somehow it stopped short of crossing that line, hanging
on the precipice, edgy but good. So I decided to write about it sure, but now
it turns out I never actually did. And a year later Autre Ne Veut’s new album
is out, it’s a huge success, Im sitting here thinking “I told you so”. Well
sort of.
The appeal of Anxiety, the new record in question is
immediately apparent. The band they perhaps most remind me of on an aesthetic
level is probably Liars. I don’t mean that Autre Ne Veut is making stripped
down rock, or that Liars is out pushing their pseudo R&B again, what I mean
is that both artists are just that, artists, and you get the real sense that they
are not making their music for us the listener. While some people will find
that understandingly off putting, something like Anxiety makes for a good
listen, and will certainly start a conversation whether you like the music or
not.
There is an obvious evolution that has occurred
since Autre Ne Veut’s self titled debut. Its not just that the songs are better,
Anxiety just makes much more sense in the context of 2013. The record is two
things, neo-R&B mixed with pop ambient electronics, two scenes that burst
apart last year thanks to acts like Frank Ocean, the Weeknd, Slick Mahoney,
Grimes, and Purity Ring. The time was right for a mixing of those two genres
and its not like R&B is totally foreign to electronic noises. It just makes
so much sense here in 2013 that an act like Autre Ne Veut could succeed and receive
acclaim. Not to mention that the songs themselves are good. The singer is far
better than he needs to be to make those songs work, but at the same time the
vocals really breath passion into otherwise humdrum songs about breakups and the
lot.
Meanwhile in the beat department, interns and
bloggers alike, present company included must really be fumbling for words to
describe what those beats sound like. Minimal? Pop? Wub-Wub-Wubbily? All of
those things is probably the answer, but it doesn’t make a difference what we
call it. So under what is perhaps a white flag of surrender, let’s just call
Anxiety electronic and leave it at that. With that said it is pretty good
electronic music. It accents the singer’s vocals pretty well, and offers a few
jarring moments that break up the action when needed. Overall they add a sense
of uneasiness to the record, anxiety becomes more than a name, but a feeling
that the album conveys as well. This ties into the artwork too, two men holding
an empty frame. The frame originally was supposed to have a copy of The Scream
in it, but for unknown reasons The Scream was removed. Where they legal
reasons, or is Autre Ne Veut trying to say something about the nature of twenty
first century art? It doesn’t matter. What does is that Anxiety is a damn good
record, and its worth a listen at the very least.
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