Ok, so Frosting is terrible.
I try to unpack my thoughts a little. So, it's for a large part of a sort of upbeat and sprightly electro art pop record. Which in itself is totally fine by me. However, that's not what made me fall in love with Bent Knee. I like how their 'organic' sound, interesting songwriting and Courtney's breathtaking vocals. None of which are really present here.
The production is probably my biggest gripe here. It's LOUD. Way too loud for my liking. I loved the production on You Know What They Mean, it had sense of space and depth. Frosting sounds claustrophobic, at least on its more upbeat songs. Couple of songs get straight up painful, I'm pointing out The Upward Spiral and Rib Woman which are caked in atrocious amount of distortion. I think the latter made me slightly nauseous (also giant middle finger to Pause which is straight up ear rape, I had to turn my speaker way down). There's a lot of vocal effects on the album, which is a shame. Sometimes I cannot tell whether it is Courtney or Jessica singing and they have very distinct voices. Songwriting felt kind of all over the place and arrangements cluttered. I think they were going for more upbeat and 'happy' sound, but I didn't like what they came up for a large part. The album improved a little towards the end, with couple songs that sounded more like their older stuff, but the only song I liked was The Floor Is Lava, which is quite beautiful and probably the album's most subdued moment.
In the end, I feel there was too much frosting and not much cake. The album is very much like its name: sugary, bright coloured and makes you sick in large amounts.
Topic: Bent Knee (Read 7707 times)
