SBTRKT - Wonder Where We Land

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  • Aaron Jerome's 2011 self-titled album made him a certified big deal—the kind of artist who crosses over into the pop realm, headlines festivals and sells out shows around the world. And whatever you thought of his turn towards bubbly, vocal-led work, you can't deny that the masked Englishman achieved it all on his own terms. But three years is a long time to coast on one LP, and now he re-emerges with Wonder Where We Land, the sequel to his self-titled effort. With guests like A$AP Ferg and Ezra Koenig, Wonder Where We Land finally puts Jerome on that mainstream stage he's been gunning for. As it turns out, he's not quite ready for his close-up. Part of what made SBTRKT such a bewitching album was its self-contained world. There were just a few vocalists, mostly unknowns. It's telling that Jerome's most frequent collaborator, Sampha, still provides the highlights here: sparkling modern R&B on "Temporary View," jazzy vocalizations on "Gon Stay" and wounded pride on the title track. These collaborations show a vocalist and producer evolving in tandem, bigger and better than they were before. But when Jerome turns to outsiders, he stumbles. Caroline Polachek is wooden on "Look Away," with an affected performance that turns her vocal from passable to grating, and Ezra Koenig is cringeworthy on the half-rapped, half-sung "New Dorp, New York," aiming for the cool of Paul Simon but coming off about as suave as Asher Roth. Wonder Where We Land pads its vocal tracks with plush instrumentals, morsels of melody that would have been strong points if they weren't so half-baked. Even "Osea," a collaboration with Koreless, fizzles out before it has a chance to grow. It's hard not to want more from the gilded "Lantern," which is all the more disappointing as it segues into "Higher," a preachy tale of struggle from rapper Raury that feels out of place on an album otherwise content to be lyrically surface-level. That superficiality is Jerome's most obvious flaw—his most appealing qualities are texture and melody, and when these aren't up to snuff, there isn't much left to work with. The album's most unusual collaboration comes at the very end, when Jerome recruits A$AP Ferg and LA band Warpaint for "Voices In My Head," a song that breathes with powerful live drumming. Humourous and lilting, Ferg's verse runs circles around Raury's "Higher," rapping with a mixture of wit and self-deprecation that suits Jerome's style much better. It's worth remembering that SBTRKT's renowned live act is not a he but a they—Jerome's songs are brought to life by a full band. That might not have solved all the problems on Wonder Where We Land, but without that live oomph his songs' weak points are all the more obvious.
  • Tracklist
      01. Day 1 02. Wonder Where We Land feat. Sampha 03. Lantern 04. Higher feat. Raury 05. Day 5 06. Look Away feat. Caroline Polachek 07. Osea feat. Koreless 08. Temporary View feat. Sampha 09. New Dorp. New York feat. Ezra Koenig 10. Everybody Knows 11. Problem (Solved) feat. Jessie Ware 12. If It Happens feat. Sampha 13. Gon Stay feat. Sampha 14. The Light feat. Denai Moore 15. Voices In My Head feat. A$AP Ferg & Warpaint Deluxe version bonus tracks: 01. Forgotten 02. Paper Cuts feat. Raury 03. War Drums feat. Warpaint 04. Spaced Out feat. Boogie 05. Maybe feat. Andrew Ashong & Sampha 06. Decemberist
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