Background
Robinson received his first big break when he released his heavy-hitting club EP, Spitfire, on Skrillex's label, OWSLA. Deciding that club-heavy tracks were not his style and that "making a track 'danceable' [meant] compromising and ignoring what the song really needed," he moved away from traditional EDM and produced Worlds, a step away from the club scene and an album that aims to explore nostalgic, beautiful feelings. The album peaked at #1 on the US Dance/Electronic album billboard. [Source]
Review
You can listen to the album here
From start to finish, the whole record is a journey; a beautiful soundscape that Robinson has crafted to tell different stories. "Every place you've ever imagined, it's real" a robotic voice sings in his live show (which I'll talk about later), "Your mind is a world. Each of us is a place." Worlds is very much about escapism and ignoring reality, and each song evokes a dream-like picture and feeling, "Divinity," featuring vocals from Amy Millan, leads the record because the opening hook is what Robinson wanted listeners to hear first. Divinity opens with a catchy, glitchy lead, but the verse anything but, with long, flowing chords and breathy vocals. The chorus is a beautiful combination of both. It's not the only track with a catchy hook; traditional EDM music begins and ends with a drum loop, to help the DJ transition between songs. Using these catchy hooks is Robinson's own way of taking a step back from the norm and focusing on the beauty, rather than the technicality of the music. "Sea of Voices," the first single and the track that announced the album, is the perfect example of how Robinson tried to break away. For the first three of the five minute track, there's nothing reminiscent of anything EDM; it's just trancy, uplifting chords. And this is a theme of the album, as almost every song, though most notably "Hear the Bells" and "Lionhearted," do the same. These big, crashing chords are almost soundtrack-esque, and never fail to inspire chills. Not every track relies on these chords, though; "Sad Machine," the leading single off the album, features a female robotic voice singing a duet with none other than Porter Robinson himself, whose vocal debut is nothing but positive. The track melody is very happy and innocent, and the lyrics are uplifting. It's no wonder it's Robinson's self-proclaimed favorite track off the record. "Natural Light," the misunderstood middle child of the album, is an ambient, chilled interlude track thats rather short, but paints a vivid picture. Tracks like "Fresh Static Snow" and "Flicker," the latter of which utilizes a rhythmic Japanese phrase to drive the beat, are odd, experimental tracks, while "Polygon Dust," "Years of War," and "Hear the Bells" are light and fluffy yet charming, reminiscent of a Passion Pit synthpop style. Of course, there are still some sections that throwback to his older works in Worlds. "Fellow Feeling," which starts off with a wistful string and piano duet enough to draw tears from the strongest of men, has imbedded within it an almost too heavy, glitchy bassline that would be sure to make any club go wild. And while the song implies that it's not supposed to be pleasant ("Now please, hear what I hear... This ugliness, this cruelty, this repulsiveness,"), the glitchy texture is in its own way beautiful; maybe the rest of the track is a foil. Anyway, "Fellow Feeling" ends with humongous festival anthem feel but, even with this similarity to regular EDM, ends with airy strings instead of the same-old drum outro. The record ends with the appropriately titled "Goodbye To a World," which features a robotic voice singing the same line about the end of the world. The quiet, bitcrushed plucks combined with the massive 8-bit chords and melodies are the perfect finish to Worlds as Robinson wraps up his debut album while summing up the ideas presented. The record finishes as the robot stalls, glitches, and turns off.
While not a album of technical precision or mixing and mastering artistry (and this is one of the album's flaws), the worlds that Robinson weaves through his vast soundscapes whisk away the heavy hitting club bangers and evoke the imagination itself. Each song means exactly what the listener wants, no less, and Robinson has said as much himself. As Porter Robinson continues to experiment and find his unique artist signature, I eagerly await his next masterpiece. 9.5/10
Live Show
While I normally won't go into detail about artist's touring performances, I had the pleasure to go see Porter Robinson live as part of his Worlds live set tour, and it was absolutely fantastic. Electronic music is hard to play live, so musicians prefer to perform DJ sets, mixing theirs and other people's tracks into an hour long set, a route which Robinson took himself for his Spitfire tour. However, realizing that Worlds was an experience, he created all new versions of each and ever track, including older singles and releases, to be played live alongside detailed, glitchy visual works drawing heavily from video game and anime culture. Next to his computer when he plays live are 4 keyboards and an electronic drum kit. He also sings live on "Sad Machine" and "Hear the Bells," another thing most artists don't do. All in all, hearing the new, different, exciting edits to each and every track along with the haunting, beautiful visuals make Robinson's live show a must see for any fans of his album.
Notable Remixes
Fresh Static Snow (Straytide & Huntroxic Live Remake)
While technically not a remix, Straytide and Huntroxic have remade the version of "Fresh Static Snow" that Porter Robinson plays at his live shows, since there aren't any clean edits anywhere. With a ridiculously heavy, glitchy bassline more suited towards live shows that slowly turns into a true change as the bass makes way for an awe-inspiring arp on top of the original, this remix never fails to give me chills.
Sea of Voices (Ninth Parallel Remix)
Ninth Parallel, whose style is already similar to post-Spitfire Porter, just recently dropped this official remix for Sea of Voices. Stating it not as much of a remix as a homage, Ninth Parallel turns the already beautiful "Sea of Voices" into a soundtrack worthy piece. There's no words to describe this remix but absolutely beautiful. Just listening to it can make one feel at peace, if just for 4 minutes. Even though it's not by Robinson himself, this fits in perfectly with the style of the album.
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