First up - hi there, I'm Matt, a few of you might remember me from the old-skool forum days, I argued a lot and met a fair few people at some of the pre-gig meetups, if any of you lot are still around. It's nice to be back.
I've listened to Wonky four or five times since my copy arrived yesterday and I'm now of the opinion it's their best record since InSides, certainly their most consistent. MoN had higher highs but sags quite badly in the middle. I'd also feared a surfeit of the sort of goofy humour that the boys are TERRIBLE at but mercifully that's entirely absent, just lots of what they're good at without ever feeling too self-referential or short on ideas.
ONE BIG MOMENT - The build on this is just absolutely masterful, the way they add dozens of synth lines on top of one another and then suddenly there's one that changes the melodic complexion of the track altogether. It's so good I wish they'd taken more time over it (more later).
STRAIGHT SUN - This is pretty good, fairly route-one Orbital really. I love the stuttering drums but they could have got away with a bit more melodic development, it feels a bit... simple as it is.
NEVER - Is extremely pretty, just glorious. (Word to Arrested Development fans, since hearing this for my first time my girlfriend and I have got into the habit of going 'Annyong' 'Annyong' at one another in time to the Nevers, which is the sort of stupid injoke that can kill personal appreciation of a track but Never is so wonderful that could never happen. Anyone, apologies for that little aside into my domestic life).
NEW FRANCE - This has grown on me a lot since since I first heard it, although I'm still not mad keen on Zola Jesus's stadium eurohouse bluster in the chorus. Her voice just remind me of how amazing Alison Goldfrapp was at making these inventive and emotive strings of wordless vocals over multiple Orbital tracks and I listen to that and think back over those with a bit of a wistful sigh.
DISTRACTIONS - Is a really astonishing piece of music. One of the things I love about Wonky is how there's a bit of almost everything that the Hartnolls are good at and I'm glad that aching Snivilisation/Times Fly/InSides sadness hasn't been left behind. That melody is just... wow, like it's setting out for a particular place but can't help moping off to a different place entirely. It's like dying repeatedly in the Legend of Zelda. Amazing.
STRINGY ACID - You should all know by now that this fantastic widescreen rave of the kind Orbital are absolutely top-drawer at. Strangely it's the only thing on the album that actually feels particularly retro in a way but who the fuck cares when it's this good. This would be a standout even on the Brown album, and it quite conceivably could be.
BEELZEDUB - I approached the idea of a dubstep rework of Satan with some trepidation but this is fantastic. If Orbital are going to go dubstep (or brostep, maybe) they might as well use their most menacing hook to do it with. I love how much there is going on and who can argue with the moment when it explodes into frenetic drill and bass. And then you're wondering how much more gleefully ridiculous it can get and they throw in the Kirk Hammett guitars for good measure. \m/
WONKY - Anyone who can seriously complain about the vocals here is firmly in the "sod off grandad" camp for me. One of the surprising and welcome things about the album is how contemporary it all sounds. Partly because elements of Orbital's sound have impacted right across the contemporary gene-pool by this stage (in M83 style indietronica as much as in dance music itself). And the nods to current music, including the Azealia Banks style battlerap electro on show here, work because they maintain Orbital's distinctive personality. Lady Leshurr herself is an astonishing MC (check her ironically named track '
Slow Flow' if you want to hear her in full awe-inspiring flood) and she does a terrific job here of riding a build that would otherwise feel a bit threadbare. But what a build! Those miaowing synth noises! The bit where she switches from MCing to singing really gives this a terrific early 90s hip-house feel. (Full disclosure, I still miss Betty Boo).
WHERE'S IT GOING? - This one, unless I'm mistaken, was wheeled out in their Glastonbury Arcadia maybe-DJ-maybe-live set last year, and it really stood out at the time as unmistakeably Orbital. Obviously it's wonderful, the brothers in full on hands-in-the-air good times in big fields with big lasers mode. It's also a pretty great stab at marrying the burbling rave chords of Impact with the panoramic sweep of Out There Somewhere pt. 2, AKA best thing ever. BUT, and this leads me to my one slight criticism of the album, it's TOO SHORT. Both this and One Big Moment feel a bit rushed, there's a slight 'Radio Edit' quality to both of them. Whereas Orbital in their pomp would happily take 10 plus minutes over a track like The Girl With The Sun In Her Head, building up patiently in a way that's at the same time totally inevitable sounding. I want at least five more minutes of Where's It Going, and a longer outtro in particular. (Remixers, MOUNT UP!)
But on the whole this is absolutely glorious, way way above the 'squint and you maybe see a half decent album' level of The Altogether and the Blue album and with a flow that beats Middle of Nowhere at its own game.
(Love the deluxe packaging, but glad there's a standard jewel case to go with the other releases).
