Thanks to the bevy of soundalikes which sprouted movement’s wake, the chillwave sound has all but been forced into bankruptcy. Heck, I’m pretty sure Underneath The Pine marks the first time a ‘chillwaver’ has tipped the benchmark up to sophomore LP status.
Thankfully, the record bursts free from the confines of the genre. While the hallmarks of chillwave can be identified in the filtered beats which underpin the album, live instrumentation is employed to override any sense that we’re listening to the results of some dude dicking around on a Macbook.
It’s as if the unsettling opening strains of Intro are the turbulent reverberations of a wormhole to 1979, a time when the giants of funk began to give way to the synth-wielding solo acts who went on to rule the early ‘80s. In fact, lead single New Beat embodies the passing of the torch of sorts from ’79 – George Clinton’s P-Funk empire began to crumble under its tremendous weight, not before bowing out with Parliament’s funky-as-hell instrumental The Big Bang Theory – all while Prince released his self-titled, self-produced sophomore record. New Beat borrows the synth hook from Big Bang while possessing a stripped-backed, distinctly ‘solo’ voice.
There’s a satisfyingly eclectic mix of cuts of offer – a handful of irresistible dance jams smattered amongst ice-cold chillout tracks. One of the understated highlights is Divina – a breezy instrumental guided by a monotonic piano chime and a rolling bass melody.
Substantial, smooth, and at times refreshingly funky – this is the watershed release which a stagnate buzzgenre dearly needed.
