New Me, Same Us - Little Dragon: Review
are a Swedish electro pop band who first blew up in the early part of last decade first as Gorillaz collaborators and then with their 2011 record Ritual Union. The bands next two records were both commercial and critical decreases but after some acclaimed singles New Me, Same Us had the potential to be their best record in years.
Review By Lavender:
I've always enjoyed Little Dragon's music and at their high point I think they made some of the best pure synth pop of the last decade, the only problem is that they weren't at their high point very often. Their last album Season High was the definition of forgettable, but since then it has been better. They put out the genuinely interesting Lover Chanting EP in 2018 and the two singles the band dropped leading up to this record were both pretty good. As it turns out those songs are the best of the bunch and while New Me, is better, it's still forgettable.
Hold On was the first single and it serves as the albums opening track. The song is bouncy and catchy from start to finish with a bassline that pops off and an instantly ear grabbing sweet hook. Are You Feeling Sad? was released as a single featuring Kali Uchis but both that version and an original without her verse are present on the record. While I like the Kali version better I'm fine with both being on the record as they are among the best songs here and the bouncy sugary refrains don't get old no matter how many times I hear them.
Another Lover is one of the records deep cut highlights with some icy piano and an absolutely smoldering lead vocal performance. The song is very sonically pleasing despite its simplicity and I always enjoyed revisiting it. Sadness is a track that succeeds in being much more direct and impactful than many of the others on the record and is all the better for it coming after a very boring patch in the album. Finally Stay Right Here features some emotive and passionate vocals and an infectious bassline. The track is long but a very blissful experience that I think is one of the records most rewarding.
There are very few songs on the record that I would consider outright bad, but a majority of it is just plain boring. Rush and Where You Belong are shimmery sounding tracks that can't truly be blissful because the core refrains are pretty much the only thing the songs have to offer.Every Rain pulls one or two decent moments out of its runtime but definitely isn't interesting for its entire runtime and still would have only been okay if it was cut down. New Fiction has some of the most interesting vocals on the record but the instrumental is totally vapid and the nothingness starts to grain on me more and more as the track goes on making me almost hate it by the end.
Water is one of the more lifeless moments with a hazy mix that basically assures nothing on the song will stick, and believe it or not nothing does. Kids on the other hand is actively annoying and the painfully planky keys that persist through most of the song are just as grating as the longwinded and ultimately not worthwhile hook. The track wanders way too long and almost none of it is satisfying or interesting to me.
New Me, Same Us has moments that embody the exact direction I was hoping the band would take, but it settles on the familiar and comfortable more often than not. The record isn't a total waste and I like it more than the groups last album but this certainly isn't one of the better records I've heard this year, even when you narrow it down to albums with a similar sonic palette what Little Dragon does just isn't that interesting. 5.5/10
