album of the week: 4.3

Data Romance
Other
(2013)

why you'll love it - cool glitchy music, enchanting vocals
why you'll hate it - a cold and shallow genere

Here is a cool recent album I didn't know anything about before fate led me to it a couple weeks ago.  The individual parts of Data Romance are nothing new.  There is a kinship with modern indie craze - The XX, just a dash of Bjork, and thick coating of Portishead.  Something all three of those bands share in common is how they hardly ever seem to meet my personal expectations.   The XX's intimate and minimalist  approach seems cool in concept, but usually is too synthetic to hold my attention.  Portishead has a well deserved reputation in the trip-hop genre, but to call myself a big fan of theirs would be an overstatement.  And well… I love Bjork, but her art takes precedence over her talent far too often.

Data Romance hits that sweet spot between all of these artists.  They've got an impressive knack for electronics, and seldom offer up a surprisingly heavy beat.   I don't want to spoil which songs do it, because the surprise was very fun.  "Oh really, were going there, Data?  Alright."  Nothing to break out dancing too, but definitely tripper than most of these kind of emotional pop songs get.  I'm already spinning this more than any Portishead album.

Amy Kirkpatrick's voice is quite impressive.  They are not afraid to tone down the synths, and make her the centerpiece of a song.  Her ability to carry a song caked in glistening and glitching synthetics makes me think of Bjork.  Obviously much tamer, but still impressive.  She can sing with strength and authority in a songs like "They" and "Others", but it's her delicate and fragile delivery on "Cargo" that really struck me.  Especially how interesting the juxtaposition is with the lyrics "Let me hold, some of the weight for you."

I sure hope Other catches fire like The XX had.  I feel they appeal to a very similar crowd, but Data Romance seems to have a whole lot more tools to keep creating fresh music.  I'm not totally nuts about this album, but like it a lot more than I thought I would; and yet I still feel there is a lot more to explore on this LP and let it grow on me.  Amiss everything I'm hyped for between March and May, a surprise like this is like a cherry on top.