The title of SBTRKT’s highly anticipated sophomore album, “Wonder Where We Land,” could not be more fitting: the album is as passive and perplexing as the title suggests.
Expectations were high for “Wonder Where We Land.” Unfortunately, SBTRKT did not reach those expectations and left his fans wanting more.
Aaron Jarome, a British producer who remixed songs for big names in music like M.I.A. and Radiohead, stunned the world in 2009 when he put on a tribal-inspired mask and started releasing his own music under the pseudonym SBTRKT, pronounced “subtract.” Released in 2011, SBTRKT’s self-titled debut album established himself as one of the best artists of our generation. The album is a distinctive musical masterpiece; it’s effortless fusion of R&B and dubstep entices even those like myselfwho have never considered electronic music their genre of choice. While collaborators Sampha, Jessie Ware, Roses Gabor and Little Dragon contributed smooth, soulful vocals to the album, SBTRKT’s artistry and personality was in the foreground of each track.
The same could not be said about “Wonder Where We Land.” While his newest release exhibits more versatility and variety than his first album, it lacks focus. There is no sense of cohesion or unity between songs; in fact, the entire album feels like a loosely put-together playlist of tracks by various artists with SBTRKT as the curator.
“Wonder Where We Land” features a greater diversity of collaborating artists, from Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig to rapper A$AP Ferg. This is a great accomplishment; musicians across the board were so inspired by SBTRKT’s music that they wanted to create something new with him. However, SBTRKT did not successfully use the variety of styles and voices to his advantage.
The purpose of collaborators is to complement and highlight the artist’s style, but the collaborations do just the opposite. Fans hoped that SBTRKT would use his guest vocalists as a new set of exotic ingredients that only further highlight his creative vision. Instead, the variety of sounds and influences overpower him as he caters to everyone else’s preferences, goals and desires. His guests strip away his artistic autonomy as he is reduced to a passive producer.
For example, in his collaboration with Koenig, “New Dorp, New York,” the quirky, fast-paced lyrics and absence of soulful depth make the track seem more like a SBTRKT remix on a Vampire Weekend song than something distinctively SBTRKT. The same goes for A$AP Ferg’s guest appearance in “Voices in My Head.” The track centers A$AP Ferg’s father’s death and his self-medicating coping mechanism to deal with the loss, and SBTRKT is simply used as a tool to help A$AP Ferg accomplish his artistic goals.
Granted, this does not necessarily mean the songs themselves are not good; SBTRKT always delivers well-crafted, catchy tracks and this album is no exception. However, what makes an album great is its ability to tie a collection of distinctive songs into one unified work of art that showcases the artist’s personality, vision and style. Because each track in “Wonder Where We Land” seems to have no relation to the next and there is no flow, SBTRKT did not reach his full potential in this album.
This could just be a sophomore slump, but until SBTRKT releases another album and redeems himself, SBTRKT will remain nothing more than a producer with an identity crisis.
