ARTIST.....: The Drums
TITLE......: Brutalism
LABEL......: Tugboat Records
GENRE......: Indie
RIP DATE...: 2019-04-04
RETAIL DATE: 2019-04-03
RUNTIME....: 34:55
SIZE.......: 80,86 MB
QUALITY....: 320Kbps 44.1kHz
ENCODER/CODEC: LAME - MP3 (MPEG-2 AUDIO LAYER 3)
URL........: https://play.google.com/store/music/album?id=Btu4dqqf4dku35mslumcm6eg55y
Track List:
01. Pretty Cloud 3:29
02. Body Chemistry 4:47
03. 626 Bedford Avenue 3:22
04. Brutalism 3:49
05. Loner 3:46
06. I Wanna Go Back 4:03
07. Kiss It Away 3:40
08. Nervous 4:04
09. Blip of Joy 3:55
Release Notes:
Another advanced release in Japan Store. :)
Brutalism is quite possibly the best collection of songs
in The Drums' ten-year career. The album is defined by
growth, transformation and questions, but it doesn't
provide all the answers. Brutalism is a form of
simplistic architecture defined by blocks of raw
concrete. Brutalism is rooted in an emotional rawness
but its layers are soft, intricate and warm, full of
frivolous and exquisitely crafted pop songs that blast
sunlight and high energy in the face of anxiety,
solitude and crippling self-doubt.
Even the fact that Brutalism sounds intentional, focused
and efficient is a symbol of how Pierce's prioritizing
of his own health and wellbeing has bled into how he
makes music. For the making of this album, between his
lake house in Upstate New York and a studio in Stinson
Beach, California, Pierce was more open than ever,
keeping his control freakery at bay, working with others
to produce and record the album. He brought in Chris
Coady (Beach House, Future Islands, Amen Dunes) to mix
it. If there was a guitar part he wanted to write but
couldn't play, he brought in a guitarist. It's also the
first Drums record with a live drummer. Delegating freed
up Pierce's time to produce a more specific vision.
His intentions were rooted in pop, as they've always
been. Back in The Drums' previous iterations, however,
the pressure was on Pierce to maintain the innocent and
nostalgic sound of this surf-pop indie band and it
didn't allow him to explore sex, drug use, darker
emotions or how he felt currently. Abysmal Thoughts was
the first occasion he had chance to do that. Lyrically
Brutalism is another giant step in that direction. It's
much more cut-throat. "I think there's a parental
advisory sticker on the cover!" laughs Pierce. "I didn't
have the courage to stand up for what I wanted before. I
felt I had to keep things whimsical and that's not who I
am. It feels empty." Sonically he had been devoid of
external influences, so afraid of being accused of
losing the purism of The Drums' sound. Now he's
rediscovering music: everything from SOPHIE to 90s band
Whale. They inspired the loop-based, breakbeat drums on
'Kiss It Away' and 'Body Chemistry'. "I used to think
our songs sounded like they were held together by scotch
tape. These are more bulletproof."