The upside to writing about a musician across multiple albums is you get to enjoy the trajectory of their career. You can actively follow their artistic evolution, which can give you a rich appreciation for their craft and methodology. But the downside is that you can get a bit too invested in the art to the point that your critical faculties and fandom melt into each other. It can be difficult to draft a review with anything approaching objectivity when you want the record to succeed because you want to listen to good music. Then again, art or arts criticism can’t really be objective. But it can be important to maintain some distance between the critic, the artist, and the art under investigation.
Which brings me to the work of Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith.
I’ve penned a few write-ups of her work for different websites over the years. I own her work on vinyl. She’s made it onto my end-of-year lists. In fact, I count her as one of my favorite electronic producers of this decade. However, I can’t decide if that makes me more or less qualified to talk about GUSH, her newest album and first for Nettwerk. Because I think it’s a remarkable record that displays an artist at the peak of her creative abilities.
On 2020’s The Mosaic of Transformation, she delves deep into kinetic textures aptly suited for a new-school video game soundtrack. With 2022’s Let’s Turn It Into Sound, she opts for playful yet ambient ideas that marry pop ideas with IDM production. But this new record delivers a resplendent blend of her entire aesthetic that propels her sound down a fresh path. It gives me clear traces of Jamie xx, Kelly Lee Owens, and Fever Ray, but with strong roots in postmodern composition akin to Holly Herndon.
She uses the familiar elements of her prior work, but GUSH tweaks and morphs them in fun directions.
For starters, she built a remarkably thick bass tone that palpably reverberates in my chest and gut. Then, a resounding snare clap pulled right out of a trap or grime producer’s Roland 808 fills the mix. And that’s when the bouncing keys and swirling synths enter, creating lush beds of melodic progressions and enticing arpeggio movements.
These substantive washes of sound provide the hallmarks for standouts like “Drip,” “Into Your Eyes,” and “Everything Combining.” The combination of her sultry vocals and pulsing rhythm section creates a spirited palette for her to work her magic. Other top tunes like “The World Just Got a Little More Big” and the title track feel brash by her typical standards.
GUSH supplies more defined singles than anything earlier in her career.
Her impressive reinterpretation on this cohesive album features less overt video game and ambient concepts, which allows for more heft and deeper grooves. I’m agog at her gorgeous balance of light and shadow, and the music is much hornier than ever. This dance-forward project rejects any hint of cheese, as its bold energy reflect even bolder ideas. Maybe my long experience writing about Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and her music proved beneficial after all. Familiarity doesn’t have to breed contempt – it can produce a deep, abiding respect.