Flume sheds his skin on ‘Hi This Is Flume’
Flume’s welcome comeback is anything but lacklustre.
On your first listen you would be forgiven for being a little offended by what you hear on Hi This is Flume. The introduction is confusing, tracks bleed into one another, it lacks steady rhythm and is jarring, to say the least. For many of us, Flume was the soundtrack of our summer in 2013. His breakout album ‘Flume’ was glued to all radio stations and made an appearance at nearly every beachfront party. The songs were both catchy and edgy, shooting Flume to instant fame in Australasia and abroad.
After touring the international festival circuit and solidifying his fame, he gave us ‘Skin’. Despite critical acclaim, ‘Skin’ lacked the same approachability found on ‘Flume’. It showed growth and progression on Flumes behalf but ultimately felt somewhat inauthentic.
Hi This is Flume comes after another three years of silence from Flume and is a bold protest to anyone who thought the Auzzie producer had faded into obscurity. To understand the Mixtape you first need to understand the name of the second track. Ecdysisis a zoology term used to describe the shedding of old skin. Like a Snake, Flume is shedding the baggage of his previous album and starting anew. The rest of the album is a catalogue of new sounds, samples, production techniques and remixes that confirm he has moved on for the better.
The production on Hi This Is Flume is world-class, showing there are still many avenues to explore with EDM music. Tracks like MUD and Amber deliver the gigantic electronic festival atmosphere while How To Build Relationships, and High Beams show Flume can hold his weight on Hip-Hop and Grime tracks too. While the heavy influence from Scottish producer SOPHIE is not subtle on this mixtape, the Is It Cold In The Water? Remix proves Flume can take the style in his own direction.
This album will certainly not be everyone’s cup of tea, but for those that are willing to give it a chance, there is so much that repeated listens can deliver. When you couple the mixtape with the visual companions created by Jonathan Zawada, this mixtape shows that quality always trumps quantity. With that being said, the day I wrote this, Flume dropped another, more palatable track named Friends. It’s very likely we will see another Flume album released very soon.
