- Nine years following his debut solo album, Skrillex releases two starkly different albums that flex his expansive sonic palette and gift for collaboration—but not without some road bumps.
- For mainstream artists, the traditional album format just doesn't cut it anymore. In the post-streaming world, albums are growing longer, becoming "mixtapes" or being split into two, three or four parts—attention-grabbing strategies necessary even for Skrillex, an artist who can sell out a Madison Square Garden show in three minutes and bring a clamouring crowd to take over Times Square with only a few hours notice. And in that one eventful week, he released his first two solo albums since 2014.
These LPs appeared shortly after Sonny Moore returned to social media following an extended hiatus, which he blamed on delayed grief. In 2015, his mother died. When you're an artist who has over 300 shows a year, it can be difficult to properly cope with death. He spent years building his career on autopilot, immersing his pain in vices like alcohol. But last year, he faced that grief head-on. Now, he explains in the release notes, "for the first time in four to five years I've found a new sense of peace. It took so much work and sacrifice to get here." The signs of increased maturity are written across Moore's new physical appearance—he replaced his infamous asymmetrical haircut for a Williamsburg-friendly man bun and swapped the black graphic tees for polished turtlenecks.
Quest For Fire and Don't Get Too Close reveal two contrasting sides of Moore's psyche. The first reflects the outrageous dubstep that catapulted Moore from an emo-famous teenager posting tracks on Myspace to a millionaire headlining stages on a spaceship, and perturbed fans of the genre who grew up on genre pioneers like Mala, Burial and Skream. After his debut EP Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites in 2010, Skrillex became a vehicle for high-profile collaborations. The '10s saw Moore work with Justin Bieber, Vic Mensa, A$AP Rocky and former girlfriend Ellie Goulding. More recently, Beyoncé fans might have been surprised to see his name on the production credits for one of the best tracks on her 2022 album RENAISSANCE, the Afrobeats song, "Energy." On both of his new albums, there is no shortage of high-profile contributors. Quest For Fire includes Missy Elliott, long-time collaborator Aluna, Flowdan and, of course, Fred again.. and Four Tet. He's been performing with the last two throughout his album campaign in New York.
Some genres have moments that aren't meant to live past their shelf life, and Quest For Fire doesn't do a great job of selling dubstep's mainstream relevance in 2023. Listening to the album feels like opening a time capsule to the early and mid-10s, a period marked by a cheesy, over-the-top hedonism that might only be truly understood if you survived the Great Recession and saw Obama become president twice. Even with all the right ingredients, Moore fails to impress. Take his work with Missy Elliott on "RATATA," which reduces the rap legend's mellifluous flow to cartoonish intermissions in between Moore's laser beams of percussion.
There are some moments—like on "Tears," when the bass drops and sinister pads flood in—that offer a glimmer of Moore's wider potential. But for the most part, the sound here feels outdated, like an AI-engineered version of '10s dubstep. Moore also uses the album to genre-hop, to varying degrees of success. On the big-room garage pop anthem "Still Here (with the ones that I came with)," the sugary melodies, pitched-up vocals and charismatic MC ("Is anyone with their best friend? Is anyone here with their team, more than like twenty?") are all too contrived and clichéd to be truly moving.
It's easier to get behind Quest For Fire when Moore's dubstep influences are subtler, in a way that could almost be considered an homage to the UK dubstep that laid the foundation for his outsized renditions. On "Rumble," a collaboration featuring Fred again.. and Flowdan, deadly grime beats meet dubstep wubs that stutter like an automatic rifle when Flowdan sneers, "Listen, hear that? Killers in the jungle." Moore works with Palestinian singer Nai Barghouti on "XENA", which could pass as a demo sent to the respected hard drum label Nervous Horizon. "TOO BIZARRE (juked)" starts with breaks that are fun enough, before diving into less exciting sad-boi trap rock. At the track's best, Swae Lee's chopped-up vocals bounce over breaks influenced by Chicago juke. At its worst, plaintive guitar chords transition into a build-up led by someone screeching at the top of their lungs.
The second album came only a day after Quest For Fire. Don't Get Too Close veers towards a Mura Masa-esque blend of trap and hyperpop. The record's blander moments resemble a certain breed of bright, inoffensive EDM you might expect to hear thrumming in the background of a shopping mall. Aside from more seasoned Skrillex collaborators—like Bieber and Kid Cudi—Don't Get Too Close looks to the future of pop music with a grip of young, talented guests, including 15-year-old pop singer Prentiss and drum & bass phenom PinkPantheress. The most elaborate songwriting out of the two albums happens on Don't Get Too Close. The LP's emotional range covers romantic yearning, feelings of isolation and on the sunnier end, a loud, palpable confidence that could be shouted from the mountains.
The album gets off to a rough start with "Don't Leave Me Like This," whose poppy melancholy could be better appreciated if Bobby Raps's vocals weren't distorted to an infuriating chipmunk pitch. On the more personal title track, Moore revives the voice that made him the successful frontman of post-hardcore band From First To Last, his pained delivery piercing through melancholy pads and tenderly drummed steel pan: "I'm on my PC / I see famous people / I think they're like me / So why aren't we equal?" It's another track with emotions that don't land as they were probably intended to due to half baked lyrics that won't resonate with anyone over 18 (Earlier, Bibi Bourelly sings, her voice girlish and small: "And my mom hates me / She thinks I'm depressed / But I'm really happy / when I'm in the garage with my friends") and lackluster production.
But on tracks like "Way Back," Moore shines, and his knack for earworm melodies, genre mashups and collaboration comes through. PinkPantheress's youthful coo pairs perfectly with Trippie Redd's angsty chorus, and it's all laid over the kind of futuristic garage pop that was made for voices like PinkPantheress's. The Kid Cudi-featuring "Summertime" also makes better use of Moore's skills, with Autotuned wails (and adlibs) cruising across balmy trap-pop perfect for summer radio play.
It's been 13 years since Moore first shook up the electronic music industry with his abrasive wubs. These two starkly different albums—one that leans into Skrillex's immensely profitable dubstep past, and another that acknowledges the rapidfire pace at which pop and electronic music is accelerating, sees Skrillex flex his expansive sonic palette. But in a future filled with TikTok prodigies who make forging new genres look as easy as breathing, the genre hybrids on Moore's albums aren't as impressive as they might have been a few years ago. The prolific producer can certainly write an EDM, trap or hyperpop track, but his true gift is in finding rising talent and offering them a platform through his production—even if that production sometimes comes off as cheesy copies of an originator who did it better.
TracklistQuest For Fire
01. Skrillex & Bobby Raps – Leave Me Like This
02. Skrillex, Missy Elliott & Mr. Oizo – Ratata
03. Skrillex, Joker & Sleepnet – Tears
04. Skrillex, Fred Again & Flowdan – Rumble
05. Skrillex, Starrah & Four Tet – Butterflies
06. Skrillex, Aluna & Kito – Inhale Exhale
07. Skrillex & Eli Keszler – A Street I Know
08. Skrillex & Nai Barghouti – Xena
09. Skrillex, Swae Lee, Siiickbrain & Posij – Too Bizarre (Juked)
10. Skrillex, Flowdan, Beam & Peekaboo – Hydrate
11. Skrillex & Pete Wentz – Warped Tour '05 with Pete Wentz
12. Skrillex & Starrah – Good Space
13. Skrillex, Noisia, Josh Pan & Dylan Brady – Supersonic (My Existence)
14. Skrillex – Hazel Theme
15. Skrillex, Porter Robinson & Bibi Bourelly – Still Here (With the Ones That I Came With)
Don't Get Too Close
01. Skrillex & Bobby Raps – Don't Leave Me Like This
02. Skrillex, PinkPantheress & Trippie Redd – Way Back
03. Skrillex & BEAM – Selecta
04. Skrillex, Yung Lean & Bladee – Ceremony
05. Skrillex & Bladee – Real Spring
06. Skrillex & Kid Cudi – Summer Time
07. Skrillex, Corbin & Chief Keef – Bad for Me
08. Skrillex, Prentiss & Anthony Green – 3am
09. Skrillex, Justin Bieber & Don Toliver – Don't Go
10. Skrillex, Sonny Moore & Bibi Bourelly – Don't Get Too Close
11. Skrillex & Swae Lee – Mixed Signals
12. Skrillex & Bibi Bourelly – Painting Rainbows