I swear, some days it's like I can't even mention the name James Baluyut without hearing something about Versus. But now, Baluyut's ready to shut everyone up in fine style and just maybe get you to stop reminiscing about his full-time band for five goddamn minutes. Now listen closely, 'cause I'm only gonna say this once: Baluyut sets out solo for this effort as +/-, and if you were expecting pop, you got it, but this ain't exactly your daddy's Secret Swingers. Instead, Baluyut marries deliciously hott digital manipulation and Mille Plateaux beats to the upbeat, joyous pop songwriting that made him such a staple of the 90s college-rock circuit.
Baluyut's recipe here is straightforward enough: take simple acoustic pop sensibilities with warm electronic swells and undertones; add tight, complex percussion and distant vocal arrangements. But it's the small changes of focus between seemingly disparate elements that make Self-Titled Long-Playing Debut Album exceptionally varied. Each song is a subtle shift from the previous one as new elements continually rise to the fore and old ones are subdued or eliminated. And of course, it's all occasionally punctuated by startling bursts of white noise and alien effects. Yet despite its experimental nature, the pop song always remains the focus, drenched in perfect melody.
Even at its most jarring (which, to be fair, isn't very), Debut Album has a nice underlying tranquility. Synth chords mimic strings and sweep in over the opener, "All I Do," constantly building but never finally breaking, over Baluyut's lone, plaintive refrain. "Manifest Destiny (In General)" instantly distinguishes itself with a cascading, slightly dissonant piano melody and bouts of invading instrumentation before Baluyut is brought so close it feels as though he's singing from within the deepest recesses of your brain. In fact, it's at this moment that you realize Baluyut's vocals are Debut Album's single greatest asset. The thread that ties the record together, his lilting tenor is part lullaby, part lament, mournful and sleepy, conveying a genuine sense of conviction.
This record fits nicely into the canon of so-called "digipop," amongst releases like Notwist's Neon Golden and Hood's Cold House, but its artistic debts are owed to the Magnetic Fields' synth-crazy oeuvre. And while not perfect-- the vocal loop on "Yo Yo Yo (Please Don't Fall in Love)" is pretty upsetting-- its missteps are few and far between. The only real issue I take with Self-Titled Long-Playing Debut Album, is that it's a bit too removed at times. Some of these songs could benefit from a little intimacy, which is admittedly difficult to pull off in this kind of setting. But all told, this is an interesting direction for Baluyut that pays off more than it flounders. And with the advances recently made by digital editing software, his self-titled long-playing sophomore album stands to be just as rewarding.
