I talk often about artistic growth. Hearing a favorite musician organically expand their palette makes me happy. Experimenting with new sounds borne from new ideas should energize creators and fans, but the progression has to make sense. The developments don’t have to follow a preset formula, but they do need a recognizable through line or some logical connective tissue if an artist wants to bring their old fans into their new world. Or to adapt another tortured metaphor, not only do you need to pay attention to the journey and the destination, but you also have to account for the stops you make along the way.
It’s exactly the sort of musical maturation Mount Kimbie has made over the last decade and more.
Kai Campos and Dominic Maker rose to prominence in the post-dubstep boom of the late ‘00s and early ‘10s. The British duo made eclectic electro-pop perfect for both dance floors and headphones as they combined bubbling synths with trip-hop energy and grime syncopation. In the years since their breakout debut album, 2010’s Crooks and Lovers, the guys have spread their wings to explore hours-long live DJ sets, full-throated pop, shoegaze, and more.
The result is the absolute tour de force that is The Sunset Violent. Released on their long-time label, Warp Records, this new release contains so many fresh ideas that the talented twosome expanded into a quartet by adding Marc Pell and Andrea Balency-Béarn. It’s giving me New Order meets Ride and M83, as the group followed the path of Dan Snaith of Caribou and Daphni into 2024 instead of Kieran Hebden of Four Tet.
These nine songs are the natural development of Mount Kimbie’s aesthetic and interests. While the swathes of shiny synths still hold sway, they serve as a trusted guide instead of the standout lead. Into that place struts a bevy of crunchy guitars with an overdriven tone that sounds plucked directly from a ‘90s Britpop tune. Thanks to a vintage LinnDrum, all of the drum programming possesses this divine zest and sublime feel that you could swear was a human playing an electronic drum kit. Tying it all together are Balency-Béarn’s glossy vocals, as they give off gossamer sheen with subtle strength.
Fourteen years into being a fan of this band, it feels odd to finally take notice of the lyrics.
Then again, it’s not every electro-pop outfit that indulges in modernist symbolism that’s a melange of Lewis Carroll, Virginia Woolf, and Alan Moore. On “Dumb Guitar,” Mount Kimbie gives us a paean to desperation and shipwrecked hopes: “All I’ve ever wanted / Build something of my own / My guess I’ll never find it on this beach / If I forget it all and smile now / Just wasted it all in style now / One slip and I fall, I’m lost at sea.”
With “A Figure in the Surf,” it’s the discouraged meandering of a life adrift and without purpose: “A dream I wrote / In a foreign land / I beat a snare drum made of sand / Now my hands are cold / The next thing I know / I’m right back where it all began / Where it all began.” Fishbrain contains several pointed couplets addressing climate change, but this one is my favorite: “What do you think about / On your sofa / When you’re kitchen’s on fire?”
I am wholly enamored with the impressionistic vibes of The Sunset Violent. Sure, it’s easy to fall in love with the confluence of goth, pop, post-punk, and electro on display. However, it’s the dalliances with ambient and No Wave that truly hold my attention, especially the spectacular album-ending King Krule collaboration entitled “Empty and Silent.” Anyone with a laptop drum machine can whip up some half-assed breakbeats with gauzy synth pads. It takes dedicated artists actively pushing themselves in curious directions to create memorable art-pop worth a damn. Mount Kimbie has always created dreamy ennui with the best of them, but this time they merged pop arrangements with broken beat grooves like never before.