A phenomenal effort from 22-year-old Orlando Higginbottom, aka Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – or... to the cool kids T.E.E.D (which is a little less of a tongue twister). Once you’ve got past all the riff raff - ‘Trouble’ is quite possibly one of the best albums to come out of 2012, and the perfect response to the current influx of dance beats that have surged their way into most genres in recent times.
T.E.E.D is of a dreamy Oxford background, and has been DJ’ing in the flourishing Oxford music scene for years. He’s released one EP prior to the album titled ‘Prehistory’. The album is a heck of a lot more refined, and I’d imagine would sit much easier on a lot more ears, the EP was very hard, this is soft, bubblegum dance music.
Every track on ‘Trouble’ shimmers and sparkles with electro, samba infused house, and you get the distinct feeling that every moment of the album is very personal to him. He is not only a musician, he also pens and sings the lyrics as well as donning ornate dinosaur come Indian headdresses at his live shows.
Opener ‘Promises’ is pure Balearic chill out house. If you like bands like Friendly Fires you will love this album. T.E.E.D is signed to major label Polydor, either way you could definitely cite Hot Chip as another reference point for him.
‘Trouble’ (which is one of the singles) goes, “you make me happy, I’m in trouble now.” T.E.E.D marries the perfect blend of earnest lyrics with beguiling house. It’s all very crisp and clean cut , whilst ‘Shimmer’ soars into tropical spirals and echoey vocals.
‘Household Goods’ has an incredible drop – it’s kind of like what Example does, but with more taste. ‘You Need Me On My Own’ is less of a dance floor filler, but is one of my favourites. It’s swoony dream pop with a new wave edge. It seems Orlando’s heartache is a recurring subject in each of the tracks. ‘Garden’ (which has been made famous by the Nokia TV ads) is probably the most well known out of his songs and ‘Closer’ is one of his more obscure moments, but still screams his signature sound.
T.E.E.D strips the hedonism from house, and acts almost as a serenador to the heartbroken on the dance floor. It’s likely to strike a chord with both indie and dance music fans. In my opinion, this is not just a good album, it’s an absolute masterpiece.
No comments:
Post a Comment