video review: 'worlds' by porter robinson

Well, this was a bit of a dud. Eh, they happen.

Next up, I finally tackle Spoon before heading into the significantly more crowded late August. Stay tuned!

album review: 'worlds' by porter robinson

It's one of the unspoken truths of synthpop that if your instrumentation and production is good enough, your lyrics won't matter. Hell, you can say that's true for the majority of modern pop music, but synthpop is probably one of the more egregious offenders, mostly because of its lineage. Throughout its early years and especially around its breakthrough with new wave in the early 80s with the rise of MTV, synthpop could get by through keeping its instrumentation and image edgy and cool, and deeper substance beyond that was just a bonus.

Now keep in mind I don't exactly think this is a bad thing: if you're not a good lyricist, it's probably best to keep that simple or minimalized and focus on the elements that will at least drive people to dance, but as a critic who appreciates when lyrics inform the context and emotion, it means I don't tend to have a lot to talk about when discussing synth albums, especially those emerging from the EDM scene. And thus I was a little wary about discussing Porter Robinson, a producer and DJ signed to Skrillex's record label and who got sick of the mainstream EDM where he made his name and wanted to shift things up. Now I don't mind the step away from EDM towards synthpop, but some of Porter Robinson's main influences did make me a little cautious. For one, he claimed to draw a lot of his influences from the high-energy j-pop scene and anime, both of which I know but I can't say I'm a huge fan.

But then again, I'm always willing to try new things, and I did mostly like that Hundred Waters release on Skrillex's label earlier this year, so I gave Worlds by Porter Robinson a chance: what did I find?