misc/
11-12-2024 / Album Review: Trevor Something - Archetypes
Today, we're having a look at Archetypes, a synth/pop album by Trevor Something.
Introduction
Clayton Bullard, a.k.a. Trevor Something is a musician from Miami, Florida.
He's known for making original 80s-style "synthwave", synth/pop and alternative music, along with covers and remixes of other songs. He runs the record label In Your Brain LLC, and releases music under other aliases such as Hibachi Kid and Staring at Screens.
I discovered his work a few years ago as a result of YouTube recommendations. While listening to some Depeche Mode, YouTube recommended me Trevor's cover of Enjoy the Silence. That cover absolutely blew me away, it was one of the best reinditions I had ever heard of a song. I was curious to find out more, so I visited his Bandcamp page.
As it turns out, all of his music on Bandcamp is free-to-download or "Name your Price". Thus, I downloaded his release from 2013, "Trevor Something Does Not Exist". It turned into one of my absolute favorite albums of all time, despite not being a huge fan of pop music.
Fast forward to the beginning of 2024, I revisited his page. Lo and behold, a shiny new album available for download.
Archetypes
"Archetypes" is Trevor Something's 11th LP, Posted on Bandcamp in January 2024. It has 12 tracks, and a running time of around 53 minutes.
All tracks on this album are covers of iconic songs, from 1970/80s Kraftwerk and Pink Floyd to 2000s Kanye West and Justin Timberlake. If you told me a year ago that I'd mention those two sets of artists in the same sentence, I'd call you crazy.
The track-list is as follows.
1. Wicked Game (Cover of Chris Issak, 1989)
2. No Ordinary Love (Cover of Sade, 1992)
3. It's No Good (Cover of Depeche Mode, 1997)
4. Hey You (Cover of Pink Floyd, 1982)
5. The Man Who Sold The World (Cover of David Bowie, 1970. OR more likely Nirvana, 1993. I'm not too sure about that.)
6. All That She Wants (Cover of Ace of Base, 1992)
7. Closer (Cover of Nine Inch Nails, 1994)
8. Sexyback (Cover of Justin Timberlake, 2006)
9. Radioactivity (Cover of Kraftwerk, 1975)
10. Love Lockdown (Cover of Kanye West, 2008)
11. Lovesong (Cover of The Cure, 1989)
12. Change (In The House Of Flies) (Cover of Deftones, 2000)
This album, I believe, gives a peek into the change of musical styles over the later half of the 20th century. The tracks on this album are quite slow-paced, as a result of Clayton selecting intentionally "slow" tracks to begin with or manually creating slower remixes, allowing the listener to savour these beautiful songs from a past era, and have them placed alongside modern 21st century music, for... a sense of comparison?
The choice of instruments, samples and effects is such that its hard to tell what time period a track belongs to, despite the tracks being selected from a wide 25-30 year range. It seems to incite feelings of nostalgia within people who lived in that era; to reflect on their early lives, While at the same time, invoking feelings of appreciation and awe in younger listeners. It's quite soothing and relaxing to listen to, yet feels very powerful.
All the tracks on here, have the signature Trevor Something effect, resulting in music that is quite different from the originals. "The message" conveyed by the music tends to become a lot deeper and more poignant. Some of the tracks on this album, I'd say are better than the originals, such as Love Lockdown and Sexyback. A lot of effort has been put into this release and it certainly shows.
Nothing seems quite out-of-place, everything fits together quite well APART from a few mixing issues, in which vocals/instruments might clip out a little or aren't very clear. My only other complaint here is that for some reason, Clayton cut Gilmour's guitar solo from Hey You. That was a little disappointing, I think a "synthwave" version of that solo on the track would have sounded amazing. Of course, that's a comparatively minor detail and it doesn't detract from the excellence of this release.
Now after writing all this, I looked up other reviews of this album online, and apparently its not rated very high. Some people find it bland, disinteresting or a bit messy. I find that a little strange considering I've written more or less the exact opposite here. One reviewer called it "nostalgia bait" and he gives some fair reasons behind his opinion. Despite all this, I still like the album.
If I really enjoyed a song on my first listen...
Why should I change my mind because of what someone else thinks of it?
Looking back on what I've written so far, trying to make music reviews was probably not a very good idea. Whether or not one's objectively right about something, One can never really be subjectively right. End of the day, You will listen to whatever you like, whether its objectively good or bad, whether other people like it or not. So I suppose the best way to decide is to listen for yourself and see.
Verdict
Overall, Archetypes is a very good release if you overlook the few minor flaws. I highly recommend listening to it, and I believe it's especially ideal for new listeners who are unfamiliar with Trevor's work. However, not many people seem to agree with me on this. I personally loved it, and I'm definitely looking forward to his future releases.
Rating: 8/10
Favorite Track: Closer
In addition, I've also concluded that I should probably write about more definitive, less subjective things.
(I have a feeling I'm not going to heed my own advice here.)