NEW SOUND MAGAZINE NEWSOUND_VOL_VII_2013 | Page 18
BY ASHLEY GOLL
ALBUM
REVIEW
• FLUME •
SRETEN brings
about a
UNIQUE
ELECTRONIC
SOUND which
utilizes various
other genres of music such as
hip-hop, soul and alternative/indie.
T
he debut album from Australian electronic
musician/producer Flume, aka Harley
Streten, Flume is an atmospheric, experimental
mix of electronic dance-oriented sounds that
touches upon aspects of R&B, indie rock, and pop.
Working with a bevy of artists including George
Maple, Moon Holiday, Jezzabell Doran, Chet
Faker, and New York rapper T-Shirt, Flume crafts
tracks that are more like sound scapes than actual
songs. More often than not, bits of melodies and
lyrics pop up here and there, but tracks never
quite gel into a hook in any traditional sense
(although a few, like “Bring You Down,” have a
Dido-like trip-hop/dub step quality). Which isn’t
to say these aren’t catchy recordings. On the
contrary, Flume has a knack for layering beats,
instruments, samples, and vocals in a way that
grabs your attention and creates an evocative,
somewhat hypnotic mood. While not necessarily
dance floor-oriented, Flume’s debut certainly
fits into a post-2000s club vibe and DJ culture
that borrows liberally, and often with inspired
aplomb, from cut-and-paste hip-hop, avantgarde electronic composition, ambient pop, and
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contemporary R&B.
A few listens through Sydney, Australia
producer Flume’s recent self-titled album makes
me certain of one thing: it’s a shoe-in for electronic
album of the year. Yeah, I said it. It’s just that
good. Clocking in at 15 tracks it’s a bit too long
for me to give a full breakdown so here’s a list
of my immediate thoughts upon listening through
the album and my five favorite tracks, arranged
in order of how much I like them.
Flume is turning a lot of heads. The Australianborn Harley Streten has recently enjoyed an
iTunes chart No 1 in his native land, as well as
seeing the same hypnotic track, Sleepless, notch
up more than 1m views on YouTube. There are
enough Aussie expats in the house tonight for
the lanky, fresh-faced Streten to be greeted like a
conquering hero when he appears on stage. It all
seems a tad incongruous for a bedroom laptop
auteur whose imminent self-titled debut album
is awash with the kind of ambient electro beats
that are best appreciated late at night, alone, on
headphones.
Favorite Tracks:
1. Holdin On
2. Ezra
3. What You Need
4. Insane ft. Moon Holiday
5. More Than You Though
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