Matt and Kim
Grade: B
“New Glow” is a long, summer drive with the windows down and the wind whipping at your hair. It’s a chill night with hometown friends while you sip on drinks and catch up.
“New Glow” is not a deep, inquisitive look into life’s biggest questions. And it’s not supposed to be.
But after about 10 years of making music, Matt and Kim’s new album was a slight let-down.
I had a lot of optimism at the beginning of this album, which was released Tuesday. Matt and Kim have always been close to my heart in an “I knew of these guys before they released ‘Daylight’ and blew up” kind of way.
Matt Johnson’s voice has a naturally uplifting energy to it. The duo seems to stick to the same formula of mixing Johnson’s voice with catchy beats, delightful melodies and simple lyrics. Sometimes the addition of some distinctive instruments adds to the allure.
It’s a formula for some really fabulous feel-good songs such as “Daylight,” “It’s Alright” and basically every song on “Lightning,” their most recent album before “New Glow.”
In fact, I’m going to go ahead and say “New Glow” is not as good as “Lightning.”
“Lightning” has a unity to it; it stays true to the sound the duo has honed to be clean and consistent while giving each song its own flavor. “New Glow” just didn’t seem to find a solid groove, but that isn’t to say it didn’t have its gems.
The first two seconds of “Hey Now” already had me wanting to get up and do a frolicsome dance. “All Stirred Up” didn’t disappoint, either.
“Can You Blame Me” is also a winner invoking the formula. It’s sanquine, with a woody whistle sound and lyrics such as “Can you blame me for just being alive?”
From there, my disappointment with this album took hold.
“Hoodie On” is literally a song about wearing a hoodie. “World is Ending” includes the lyrics, “There’s so many fish in the sea / but only a few who really know me, now.”
The sad thing is, I could go on. As I stated before, this isn’t a deep album, and I wasn’t expecting one. However, I was expecting a continuation of the great work Matt and Kim did on “Lightning,” and I only saw that in a few songs.
“Get It” is one of the singles released prior to the album release, and it’s just OK. The electronic beat has some potential, but the track just doesn’t feel like signature Matt and Kim. The lyrics are even more shallow than usual, and it doesn’t show any maturity on the part of the artists.
Maturity, in Matt and Kim’s case, would be recognizing the strong quality of “Lightning” — fun, but evolved — and sticking with their formula throughout “New Glow.”
It’s when they try to stray from that treasured quality that they misstep.
“New Glow” isn’t bad. In truth, take away “Hoodie On,” “Make a Mess” and the forgettable “Not Alone,” and I would actually say it’s quite good.
Good for walking between classes. Good as background music in your car. Good when you’re just feeling good.
But if you’re looking for unrefined, classic Matt and Kim, look to their old albums.
