Kicking off with the stadium-sized Higher, carrying traces of the crunchy origins found on earlier EPs, let’s listeners know that The Naked and Famous’ edgy, unhinged sound would make a return. Water Beneath You moves like a Chvrches single and My Energy’s arrangementis nearly pop punk. While production is slick and near flawless, it feels like ice cream melting together.
The lyrics are sourced from real conflict – front people Alisa Xayalith and Thom Powers separated in 2014. Unfortunately, the transition of great pain into great art doesn’t quite work on Simple Forms, the emotion so visible it feels forced.
Simple Forms isn’t without its highlights. Xayalith has a beautiful voice, but the force of it is often lost in the noise as too many things try to dominate at once. Thankfully, Laid Low amends this,scaling back her vocals and blending them in with the production. While this might sound like it would water down their impact, the result is magnetic.
Simple Forms is unconvincing in light of their previous successes, but there are still pockets of The Naked & Famous’ excellence to be found.
By Angela Christian-Wilkes
