It\u2019s so hard not to love Matt & Kim. Their sound is absolutely infectious, Matt Johnson\u2019s joyous vocals pairing with a surfeit of synths and Kim Schifino\u2019s frenzied drumming. After striking gold with the unabashed enthusiasm of 2009\u2019s \u201cDaylight,\u201d the duo released their third album, Sidewalks<\/i>, which hit No. 30 on the Billboard charts. And for good reason: Sidewalks <\/i>found Matt & Kim polishing up their sound and throwing in some hip-hop beats, creating a lightning-fast album that also added some depth to their signature levity. It was the sound of a band refining their sound and maturing while still retaining their innate optimism.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, their latest release finds them taking a step sideways rather than ahead. Things start out deceptively strong with lead single \u201cLet\u2019s Go,\u201d which would have set an excellent tone for the rest of the album. It\u2019s classic Matt & Kim, all soaring \u201cooh ooh ooooh\u201ds and coiled flutters of synths ready to explode; it\u2019s paced well, too, ebbing and flowing from the pepped-up synths to spare piano chords. It\u2019s not anything new, to be sure, but it\u2019s always an enjoyable formula.<\/p>\n
But from there, most of Lightning <\/i>feels somewhat off-kilter. Second track \u201cNow\u201d is a veritable avalanche of drums and electronic backbeats, but the urgency of the instrumentation is paired with a chorus that consists only of the title repeated over and over, with some mediocre lyrics in between (\u201cAnd I know that things aren\u2019t perfect \/ Socks with holes no one noticed\u201d). \u201cIt\u2019s Alright,\u201d \u201cNot That Bad,\u201d\u00a0 and \u201cI Said\u201d follow the same rabbit hole down to averageness \u2013 they\u2019re still ridiculously listenable because of Matt & Kim\u2019s ability to craft crackling pop tracks, but the lyrics leave a lot to be desired. They\u2019ve never been too concerned with lyrics, usually preferring instead to throw together a pastiche of phrases that add up to a general seize-the-day sentiment. But songs like \u201cDaylight\u201d or \u201cCameras\u201d show how cohesive they can be, and it makes the songs on Lightning <\/i>fall short in comparison. <\/p>\n
It becomes hard to tell the songs here apart at times, something ominous for such a short album; it barely clocks in at a half hour, and I can come up with about three or four songs of the ten that hold up to anything in their discography. \u201cOverexposed\u201d is fun and charming road trip tale, typical with its sugary synths and driving pace, but lines like \u201cBreak all your bones \/ Before they\u2019re grown \/ You\u2019ll never pay off \/ All of your loans\u201d add in some darkness that\u2019s atypical of such a seemingly lighthearted musical vision, and it would be a cool area for them to keep exploring lyrically rather than just repeating their song titles ad nauseum. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, penultimate cut \u201cI Wonder\u201d offers the most unique vision musically; it\u2019s strange, skittering, and stilted, but in a way that works, weirdly enough. The refrain \u201cI wonder what I would have become\u201d moves from reflective to almost eerie over the choppy beats, twinkling pianos, and airy synths. <\/p>\n
To be honest, it pains me a little to write a negative review of Matt & Kim. When I saw them live in Baltimore a couple years back when they were touring Sidewalks<\/i>, it was one of the freshest, most invigorating shows I\u2019ve ever been to. And I bet a lot of the material here would translate better to the live setting, where the duo is able to truly unleash all their energy and spirit, enveloping the crowd in that wash of pure joy. But that just doesn\u2019t make it to disc here. The couple of tracks that do work are a flash of Lightning <\/i>indeed, but one that\u2019s all too quick.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":31163,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[8650],"rating":[5619],"class_list":["post-42855","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-matt-kim","rating-rating-c"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42855\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42855"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=42855"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=42855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}