Frownland

I'm going to start with my honourable mentions. The honourable mentions will be done as a collection, so they're not in any particular order. The top 20 will be ranked, though.



Faust is a force of nature barreling along at full capacity and when they stop, they'll keep echoing until music itself ends.

The album's opener is the strong point on this album as it's full of gorgeous drones on strings and electronics punctuated by spoken word and operatic singing and percussion that turns into that classic pulsing rock sound that they're known for. The tracks in between are great as well too. La Poulie has some really awesome percussion moments and Cloryphyl has badass percussion throughout. Lights Flicker gets especially punky with the screechy sax and female vocals full of immediacy and attitude over the driving drums and guitar. The closer takes on a darker and jazzier element with angrier male spoken word and trumpet. It touches on fusion-era Miles sound before breaking back into those Faustal rhythms and synth and cello melodies to close out the album.

Faust never waste any time with their music. Their songs are extended and full of improvisations, but it's never done without purpose or played without thoughtfulness. Faust owns their invention and boasts exciting new features. It's easy to forget about new material from bands like Faust on the strength of their old material, but any fan of Faust or krautrock in general needs to hear this album as it's the high quality music that you can expect from such a powerhouse.


Rating: Dank as ****

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Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.