3 Chill Albums I’ve Listened to Recently

The album cover is an abstract piece of concept art that utilises a soothing colour scheme, setting a dreamy tone. A track that encapsulates that tone is When I Was a Painter, in which the repetitive guitar and soft drums lull and cocoon the listener gently. The album’s fun and steadfast tunes make it very replayable. The vocals are distinctive, clear, and youthful, particularly apparent in Fortunately Gone. On the other hand, the lyrics are vague, silly, and repetitive. Opened is a good example of their non-traditional structure, like modern prose.

The album’s predictability and consistency lend themselves to a comforting listening experience, with catchiness being a secondary focus. The talent displayed in the record is considerable but not overly inspiring, using standard guitar riffs and “good” or “nice” singing. Interesting aspects of the instrumentation are the guitar distortion, male vocal harmonies and the violin heard in Oh! Perhaps what stands out most is the production style: a little dissociative, a little thin and authentic but not rough. It directly confronts the listener with an unfiltered sound. 

Its cover is lacklustre and fails to pique interest; I also dislike when the artist includes themselves in their album cover. It does set a particular tone of pensiveness and calm, showcased especially in the song Chinese Satellite. The slow, deliberate pace that Bridgers sings with throughout the album effectively makes the listener feel gloomy. As the album progresses there are moments of hopefulness but the overall mood remains consistent, making this album rather replayable.

One positive aspect of this album is its inclusion of creative and engaging song titles like DVD Menu. The actual songs, however, are super forgettable. The album is littered with never-ending vague melody lines, and the lack of focus makes them not catchy at all. The backup vocal tracks work well but several songs would be stronger without the male vocals, which can be jarring. Bridgers’ own voice is soothing like a birds’ call, for example in the blue-grass inspired track Graceland Too. The lyrics precariously balance on the borderline between sweet and pretentious. Her talent and the talent of the multitude of collaborators featured is showcased successfully. 

The cover of this album is nice, despite the lack of creativity and artistic intent displayed. It’s fairly original and aesthetically-pleasing. On the other hand, it does create a contrast. At odds with the album’s darker and more ominous cover, the songs featured in to hell with it are lively. Ergo, the replayability of the album is around average. While the danceable and upbeat nature of the music makes for a fun listening experience, it can also become tiring and stale over time.

As you may have gathered, I find this album distinctly catchy. Of course, there are some songs that don’t resonate with me musically, but still… The vocals are bright, with a feel-good quality contributed to by the softness of the harmonies. The synths are lo-fi and bloom over delicate guitar jingles, particularly notable in Last valentines. Although, the texture is thin for my liking. Pinkpantheress also experiments with reggae-like, exotic drum beats throughout the album, although the songs with more traditional and faster drums work better. The lyrics are pretty okay – personal, but still relatable. Overall, the artist shows potential as a talented musician, but definitely doesn’t dazzle.