It's the extreme vocals disc that highlights another of A. If you're not into that side of Cook, the drums disc is up there with his most instantly gratifying work, while the piano and spoken word discs stretch the limits of what those terms can mean. Cook is a master of melody, capable of hooks that can hit you over the head as much as they can beckon you into a more intimate, introspective space. If you like Cook's singer-songwriter side, there's plenty to dig into, including the slide guitar lullaby "Drink Blood," the revealing live version of "Superstar" or the Elliott Smith-style "Being Harsh," with gorgeous guitar playing. The Nord disc features the glassy textures of '90s adult contemporary, including a major highlight in the short but beautiful "Crimson." Listening to the supersaw disc feels like seeing PC Music through an X-ray machine, and some of these songs, like "Illuminated Biker Gang," rank up there with Cook's best material. Each disc is defined by a certain instrument, including drums and guitar and more specific sounds like a sawtooth oscillator, Nord keyboards or extreme vocals. PC Music fans will recognize many of these tracks from mixes, teases and live sets over the past few years. But it's a pleasant listen, like flipping through a scrapbook. It's an audacious effort with all the excess and low-brow taste-baiting of PC Music, but underneath it all runs quiet virtuosity.ħG is an album that throws everything at the wall in hopes that most of it will stick. 7G, which consists of seven themed discs with seven tracks each, is meant to underline this versatility: drum & bass freakouts, acoustic coffee shop crooner songs, covers of The Smashing Pumpkins and Taylor Swift. His fingerprints are all over the modern leftfield pop scene, from his work with Caroline Polachek and Jónsi, to the manic electronics of 100 gecs. There were glimmers of it in "Superstar," a Hannah Diamond-assisted track where he debuted his indie-influenced vocal style, and in the soul-baring emo of last year's "Lifeline," whose sincerity would have once seemed like the antithesis of everything PC Music stood for.Ĭook is a keen A&R, producer, singer-songwriter, session musician and DJ, as well as Charli XCX's creative director. But in spite of this, the British artist is a sensitive soul. Cook is responsible for a world of alternative pop music where everything gets dialed up to 11.
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