Late-stage capitalism has many downsides, but hearing about them from Chromeo is something new. On Adult Contemporarybilled as a grown-up survey of “what it means to be a geek in your 30s and 40s,” features David “Dave 1” Macklovitch and Patrick “P-Thugg” Gemayel mea culpas about situational snafus, pine for exes who might change their ways, and, in the Italian disco of “BTS,” lament the ills of burnout culture. “I have to admit,” concludes Dave 1, “Sometimes rest can be better than sex.” He has a point, but coming from a bloghouse class clown it's kind of mean.
On their albums Fancy Footwork and White Women, the Montreal disco-funk duo split the difference between hideous grime and elegance. If they ever felt their shtick was too much, then the duo would roll their eyes harder. “Kids are all crooks,” Dave 1 once said. “It would be funnier to hug.” Mixed by New York DJ and Jessy Lanza collaborator Morgan Geist, the new album aims to remedy 2018's big-budget and inappropriate features. Head over heels, and features La Roux as its sole guest. While some songs here could be Chromeo canon, Adult Contemporary too often they feel like a glossed-over representation of their previous sound that lacks the idiosyncrasy and wry humor.
The album is at its best when the new perspective calls for a change in Chromeo's sound. The yacht-rock-inspired 'Friendsnlovers' is a wistful sigh you might imagine soundtracking the bittersweet end of a Netflix romcom, and 'Words With You' is a dead-boogie through 80s disco-rock flecks of rubber bass and festive sounds. . But at other times, the album falls down an overly liberal trench. The introspective ballad “A Cut Above” dissolves into its pads of synth, and the brooding, “Lonely Nights”-like “Waiting for a Star to Fall” just makes you want to revisit Mylo's (best) hit.
As much as the duo love Bootsy Collins et al., Adult Contemporary it feels like a well-crafted 2010s disco-funk pastiche destined for a sponsored dance scene. (It's as if the future-funk experiments of Thundercat and Steve Lacy—not to mention the pandemic-era disco boom in pop—never happened.) The sleazy “Personal Effects” could be the title of a comedy. in ways Noël Coward never wrote , but its retro flavor extends to its central figure of the “leave something behind” girl who secretly “forgets” her phone charger in the narrator's space. “Coda” feels like it exists mainly to present a co-dependent-sounding “coda” rant, trading the lusty seductions of Chromeo's funk forebears for a TikTok buzz. Despite his flashes Adult ContemporaryIn keeping with its self-described maturity, the album generally prioritizes life in a big way, to the extent that, on the hi-NRG-evoking “Ballad of the Insomniacs,” an insomniac wonders, “Where's the party?”
But Jagged Edge are not. Clocking in at 52 minutes, Chromeo's prompts for vibe start to feel as repetitive as their album, this time featuring the matching duo next to a woman whose clothes have fallen off. (They're not Roxy Music, either.) As with Solange's divine appearance White Womenthe climax of it Adult Contemporary comes when a guest is in the spotlight. La Roux's appearance on “Replacements” feels like parting velvet curtains, as if everything before was a warm-up. “I tried so hard to get you out of my mind,” he sings, before a sly, very funny twist. “Oh, I wish you had a sister.” In 30 seconds, it captures the exact balance between passion, warmth and humor that Chromeo spent the record chasing.
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