Ol’ Qwerty Bastard

Baths is the solo electronic project of California based singer/producer Will Wiesenfeld. With a sound that dabbles in a plethora of different genres, including future-pop and glitch, I had no idea what to expecting going into this album, aside from the beauty of the album's lead single Miasma Sky which I heard not too long ago.

From the get go, the album's strong suit appears to be Wiesenfeld's light falsetto vocals, which flow angelically over his very infectious production. This is evident in the very first track Worsening where his vocals come though almost whisper-like. The song also includes a little bit of clever song writing especially the line "where is God when you hate him most?"

After the first track passes, it's Miasma Sky up next. I can't say enough about just how beautiful this track is, but it's so infectious and enjoyable you can't help but tap your foot when hearing it. My only concern when hearing this song so high up in the track listing was that the rest of the album would lack in comparison. However with the next track Ironworks, I see that Baths has much more diversity in his sound than I expected. The track is met with a lovely backing (violin?) and a very glitchy drum pattern (or at least it sounds like it to me.) The lyrics of the song seem to be the confessions of a woman who is having an affair with a married man.

One of the more interesting cuts on the album is the ninth track Earth Death, which has a much more hard hitting production style than the rest of the album. It's a good change of pace, and once again shows Wiesenfeld's ability to change his sound throughout the album. Despite the change, his approach vocally remains the same with his high voice floating very nicely over the somewhat harsh beat. The final track, Inter is a great way to close the album out, as it consists of some low-key laid back production that features some nice strings, and is met with very nice, angelic vocals.

Obsidian did not disappoint, and the album is worth a listen for Miasma Sky alone. My big takeaway from this LP is that when Baths' is on his game, he's really on his game, and this leads to a couple wonderful tracks. The downside of this however, is that he isn't always delivering on this specific project. Nonetheless, it still comes together and makes for what is most definitely an enjoyable listen.

Rating: 7.5/10