Apple - A.G. Cook: Review
is a British songwriter and producer as well of the head of influential Hyper Pop label PC Music and frequent collaborator with Charli XCX. After years of producing for other artists he released the monster album 7G last month with years of works compiled into 7 discs and he is here with a much slimmer and more conventional quick follow-up.
Review By Lavender:
7G wasn't personal but I did enjoy the record. The highlights from the album were just as good as much of the music Cook has worked on over the years which had me excited for this album which felt like a more complete and personal statement from Cook as an artist. While he is certainly the star of the show this time around many of the deep cuts on Apple don't quit elive up to the hype.
That hype was generated from a pretty good lead single in Oh Yeah. The song is a glistening pop ballad with heavy vocal processing that makes for a sweet and catchy way to dip your toes into the album. It doesn't hold back for long however as the second track xxoplex kicks off with crashing supersaw keys and jittery percussion. The song never settles down from there with rapid fire vocal samples that sound like something from an Iglooghost song and make for a big highlight. Airhead gets off to an absolute banger of a start with a relentless assault of blown out keys. After this it transitions into a more blissful electro pop tune and while the vocals are distant in the mix like much of this record it fits this tracks sound really well and makes for a great moment.
The Darkness is a long and winding pop track but a rewarding one thankfully. Cook gets a lot of use out of his catchiest refrains and executes vocal and instrumental nuance missing on other tracks here to make the songs transitional moments interesting. Jumper sounds so much like a Blink 182 song thrown through a PC Music filter that its scary, despite that I actually find myself enjoying the song. It's catchy driving and infectious in the way all good pop punk strives to be and it carries on the records great run of track in the final stretch. Stargon is another instrumental track and another hit with the first half being a blissful haze of bright synth chords and the second half being a hyper pop rager with crashing synths and manic percussion for a huge highlight. Finally the closer Lineline is a pretty sugary yet triumphant ending moment even though I wish it went a little harder in its most climactic moments. Instead it settles for sweeter vocal lines and layers of blissful synths and feels routine but effective as a closer.
Beautiful Superstar is a ballad that also takes its time developing into a very triumphant hook. While I like the climax of the track a lot if does tend to drag on especially after this point with an increasingly muted outro that could have been helped a lot by the vocals being easier to make out. Animals has a good blend of natural and synthetic instrumentation but completely falls apart with Cook's indulgent vocalizing. Just because the auto tune sounds compelling doesn't mean it will still sound good when he is crooning notes into oblivion and stretching them out for way way too long. Finally there's Haunted an acoustic ballad that doesn't really do much of anything honestly. The vocals are somewhat interesting but the sparse mixing and lack of instrumentation until the songs final moments make it a really tough sell.
Apple does a lot right but it also misses it's opportunity to really be memorable. With so much hyper pop coming out in 2020 A.G Cook fails to stand out within the genre he pioneered. While there are plenty of moments on the record that sound good there are only a few I would be excited to return to over the sea of music coming from his contemporaries. Apple is a good start but if Cook wants to have the same impact as a artist that he had as a producer it will take some more innovating. 6/10
Album Cover Review by Tyler Judson:
This cover reminds me of a temporary tattoo you would get for 25 cents at the little vending machines. I don't enjoy the stark white background of the asymmetrical design. The apple in the center is cool but it lacks any depth or further experimentation to make it different or interesting. It is what it is and nothing more, just boring and underwhelming. 2/10
For more A.G. Cook work check out my review of Charli XCX's How I'm Feeling Now here
