Original Colors

Though I’ve enjoyed High Places live a couple of times, I’ve never found their sound to really gel on record. Something about the producer-singer duo between Mary Pearson and Rob Barker makes so much sense when it’s right in front of you, but (to my ears) fell a little flat on past efforts like ‘High Places vs. Mankind’ -- overcrowded by too many ideas and a sonic allegiance to the oft-generic electro-indie scene. ‘Original Colors,’ by contrast, is fresh, dark, and minimally focused; many points on the record are reduced to little more than Pearson’s lilting vocals, a sparse drum machine, and simple synth bassline. Sounds like Barker has recently been spending time digging through his classic techno records, because there are clear shades of the more melodic 808 State and LFO selections through this full-length. Cold, druggy, dub-techno-y tracks that sit on the fence between a handful of genres. Tough to categorize, and seriously recommended. Check tracks 2, 3, 10, 1, or 5.

01. medium-tempo, 4x4, quasi-industrial (4:27)
02. * catchier melody, more intricate and engaging rhythms (4:29)
03. * deeper bass, dub sound effects, trotting riddim (2:22)
04. club-friendlier, techno-industrial vibe, layered vox + nice synth work (4:32)
05. echo chamber, almost Black Dice-ish (3:30)
06. techno-y rhythm, (relatively) funky bass line (4:47)
07. MIA-type rhythm + Siouxsie and the Banshees-type singing (4:03)
08. nice pad synth intro, deep rhythm (4:39)
09. brief, not too exciting (1:36)
10. * catchy 4x4 rhythm, synth work (3:51)