Review: I hope the world can make room for us by oldphone via Lonely Ghost
LA's oldphone is bringing you an emo and hyperpop mix from Lonely Ghost records. I don't have a relationship to the music of oldphone though I am familiar with the name thanks to the Lonely Ghost stamp. Like any DIY artist whose name I hear quite a bit I had planned on jumping on when a new project came around and now the sophomore album is here.
If you came for emo, oldphone have a lot to offer. The album's intro, "Flicker," gives us a twinkly riff, some clapping, if you close your eyes, you can imagine the sweat in a tiny club. The same live energy is applied to the following "The City's Alive" but blended with hyperpop percussion. "A sunset" is another track where oldphone feels really tuned in. Where the record starts to fall apart is the production, specifically in the vocals. Songs like "urchildhoodisnevercomingback" are composed very smoothly with elements of both sides of the genre-mash but whose vocal melodies sound completely detached given their low energy delivery. "A loft," which serves as the outro to the same track, on the other hand uses this style really well. I think this heavily edited method of presenting vocals can work really well; I do not think the effect is a supplement for having something interesting to begin with. The censorship over certain lyrics also comes off as sort of off putting. I can't really tell if it's a statement being made about things we shouldn't have said or be saying or if it's just an odd production choice. It's something I feel I should be able to just let go but with the record being as short a listen as it is every detail of it is in the spotlight. All said, I think oldphone bring an interesting proposition to the table but don't quite hit the mark here. Still there are a lot of strong compositions and plenty of good ideas to go around and honestly this doesn't turn me off from oldphone projects in the future.
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