‘BRONSON’ Review
On Friday, electronic music fans were finally given the first full-length project from American future-bass duo, ODESZA, and Australian deep house DJ/producer, Golden Features.
The collaborative project, dubbed BRONSON (inspired by the movie), was first announced on April 26 via ODESZA’s Instagram. Between now and then, they’ve released four singles leading up to their self-titled debut album: “Heart Attack”, “Vaults”, “Dawn”, and “Keep Moving”.
Harrison Mills (ODESZA), Thomas George Stell (Golden Features), and Clayton Knight (ODESZA) .
The album, featuring 10 tracks, defies all creative boundaries we’ve come to associate with ODESZA and Golden Features. It explores an entirely new realm of electronic music, falling away from ODESZA’s typical sound of upbeat, melodic, synth-heavy tunes in favor of deeper, underground, industrial-sounding dance music.
The album is absolutely phenomenal. They do a magnificent job of breaking down their own barriers while maintaining their level of sound production and innovation.
According to ODESZA, the BRONSON project dives into ideas of perseverance through struggle, a theme that much of the world can relate to right now.
The album begins with “Foundation,” an contemplative introduction with a gradual build, putting you in the perfect state of mind to fully take in the album.
It flows directly into the next track, “Heart Attack” featuring vocals from Lau.ra. She discusses the emotions felt in a turbulent love affair over a pulsating, down-low bassline.
“Bline” follows up, sticking to the uptempo deep bass sound. It is entirely instrumental, and includes some of the ODESZA-inspired vocal chops that have become an integral part of their sound.
“Know Me” features vocalist Gallant. His dreamlike voice glides over a melodic, breakbeat instrumental, as he considers the concept of someone you love never truly knowing and understanding you, and the unfulfillment of a relationship as such. The track blends electronic concepts with R&B style vocals, giving it very dynamic listenability.
“Vaults” features a similar instrumental to its predecessor, possessing industrial breakbeat drums underneath a repetitive synth melody.
“Tense” throws you for a real loop, switching up into a grimey, ultra-heavy, mid-tempo banger. According to Stell, it was the first song they began working on together, which is likely why it is so heavy. It served as inspiration for them to continue the project.
“Call Out” does almost a 180° turn from all prior tracks, shifting away from the deeper, heavier tunes towards a dreamy, synth-pop sound. According to Mills, they were inspired by the sound of the 1980’s and wanted to emulate the feel of that era. The track actually features vocals from Mills and Stell themselves, which is a rarity.
“Contact” reverts back to the holistic sound of the album. The track incorporates a distorted, growling bass, paired with a repeated guitar-esque riff, giving it a rockstar energy.
“Keep Moving” brings it way down deep with a grungy, warehouse-rave style energy. The brief lyrics deliberate ideas about muscling your way through obstacles. According to Mills, they even sampled sounds of an army marching to keep with the theme of the song.
The project concludes with “Dawn,” featuring Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs. The track is an ode to self-confidence. The dreamy lyrics encourage the listener to find their inner strength in times of uncertainty. The ambient sound of the verses paired with pensive vocals give it a massively uplifting feel that wholly encapsulates the “fighting spirit” idea of the song. This track’s chime-y synths have a more traditional ODESZA sound to it, while maintaining BRONSON’s deep bass.
All in all, the album is fucking brilliant. I truly didn’t know entirely what to expect, considering that this is pretty uncharted territory for the artists involved, but I was entirely blown away as I ran it through for the first time.
ODESZA and Golden Features have laid the groundwork for what has the potential to be an incredibly successful project, in addition to their impressive individual work. I feel I speak for many when I say I can not wait to experience it in a live setting.
Rating: 9.5/10
The album is cohesive and dynamic, with absolutely zero skips necessary.
Written by Sam Kalchbrenner, Edited by Emma Barsky