Album Review: Porter Robinson - Worlds

It’s hard being famous, apparently. After suffering from an acute identity crisis as a famous DJ, Porter Robinson has sat down to create something that something unique and new, that won’t neatly slot on your playlists next to the latest hits from the superstar DJs of the land. While it’s easy and often tempting to confuse pretension with ambition, the soundscapes and emotions on Worlds sound sincere if nothing else.

Worlds is a fitting title, as one of the album’s strong points is its ability to summon an extraterrestrial atmosphere. Robinson explores faraway places, island-hopping from one influence to another. Sad Machine and Flicker sound distinctly influenced by Asian electronic music with their robotic lilt, while Sea Of Voices is more at home in the foothills of Icelandic mountains.

Despite this adventure into ambience, Worlds often feels shrouded and distant. Robinson often manages to successfully avoid formulation, but doesn’t always achieve a real sense of purpose. Lionhearted and Hear The Bells, both with guest vocals, leave a more solid impression, the latter balancing the orchestral overtones of the instrumental songs to great effect.

Gapping rifts and hanging chasms invade what seems to be a concept album that built its house on the sands of confusion. It’s obviously a labour of love from Robinson, but it’s just a shame that he hasn’t focused the textual forays and songwriting into a body of songs that work well together to form something special. At its enigmatic best, we’re left with an album that sounds terrible on laptop speakers, but sounds suitably mountainous on a large system.