⭐⭐⭐ – 3/5 Stars
On his second full-length album, RL Grime attempts at a futuristic take on the modern electronic album, most apparent when he uses an instrumental approach that means so much more than lyrics. However, the incorporation of too-familiar voices and sounds distract and obscure the intent of the album.
When Martin Garrix made his breakthrough a few years ago with “Animals,” it came as a surprise. No one expected a purely instrumental song to gain so much airtime on the radio. But it did, simply because it invoked so much emotion in its listeners. People had been listening to so much mainstream pop music that they had forgotten what kind of untamed power was held by raw music, minus the superficial lyrics.
There’s a saying that goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” In music, I believe something analogous to that is “An instrumental is worth a thousand words.” However, this doesn’t mean exactly the same thing: as opposed to pictures depicting every single detail in a scene, instrumentals leave a song open to interpretation. Paired with a provocative song name, instrumentals can have the most profound impact on someone, since every person interprets them differently.
As RL Grime returns with his second album, he definitely utilizes this tactic. A thrilling joyride to the tranquil utopia pictured in the pinhole on the album cover, NOVA both excites and sparks curiosity. Throughout much of the album, the listener is immersed in an experience that appears to take place In one of the most powerful performances of the album, Freya Ridings on “Shrine” leaves the listener suspended in an otherworldly encounter, taking them on an intergalactic adventure. “Shoulda,” is a continuation of that adventure, the deep leads contributing to a feeling of flying through emptiness. Next,”Reims” and “Pressure” both paint the image of witnessing an extraordinary phenomenon, namely a supernova, the namesake of this album. “Era,” a hardcore EDM track feels like an electronic take on the typical car chase, the listener being the one chased, inciting the same feeling as an adrenaline rush. “Rainer” proves itself as an exhilarating existential exploration, like a boss battle before the ultimate prize. Finally, “Atoms” shows the attainment of that prize, but still a conflicted person yearning for the past, wanting to feel the adrenaline of the adventure again.
However, there are several moments where the gleeful abstractness on this album is replaced by regularity. Songs like “UCLA,” with 24hrs’s poorly thought-out lyrics, and “I Wanna Know,” which sounds to much like The Chainsmokers to be unique, rope you down to earth when the rest of the album is beckoning you towards cloud nine. “Undo” and “OMG” are both odd additions to this tracklist, with the best parts regrettably between the lyrics, where RL Grime’s expertise shines through. However, among the features, “Take It Away” separates itself as a mediocre rap-electronica hybrid. With all three of these songs, it seems as if RL Grime is attempting to create a compromise between rap music and EDM, but he only really succeeds in one, which may even be a stretch. Though it is understandable that RL Grime is trying to appeal to the omnipresent fans of hip-hop, these songs feel out of place on this album, and don’t mesh with the transcendental vibes that this album gives off.
All in all, NOVA excels in the moments where it sets you free with purely music, beautifully and powerfully setting extraordinary scenes. But in many instances, when the thrilling feeling of being surrounded by extraterrestrial sound is interrupted by offhand lyrics, it fails to create the environment that was intended. But despite the distractions, after a magnificent journey, we eventually do manage to reach the elusive wonderland from the album cover.
