Porter Robinson - SMILE! :D
I think Porter Robinson just gets me, ya know?
Now why do I say this? I could have easily said this same statement about the Charli xcx album and how much I and everyone around you was vibing with it, or the very profound and personal songwriting approach that Adrianne Lenker took on her newest project. But something about Porter hits different, man. I've always respected the man's production talents both as an arranger and a DJ, as he ofter combines electronic music with a range of pop-adjacent subgenres in a seamless fashion. Deep down, however, the electronic cuts that make it on every album are cathartic because of their excellent and free-ranging songwriting. Porter puts melody before meaning, he wants to make the tune stick out in an infectious manner so that the meaning within the lyrics contain more potency for listeners. When "Cheerleader" first released, I was hooked like a magnet. It's a tongue-in-cheek track about modern parasocial obsessions, much in the same vein as Eminem's "Stan," but with a pop-punk flair to it and strangely enough, no high pitched vocals, which I could see as a sign of maturity and progression. It's tough to even ponder that this artist's debut came out a decade ago and still, he knows how to make these electronic adjacent sound more vibrant and weighty than ever.
The risks he takes on his newest album "Smile! :D" are definitely more noticeable than the changeups and stylistic left-hooks he offered us on "Nurture," but every sonic shift is well within reason. The way Porter showcases his mind and his wandering, sometimes suffocating, thoughts is more direct than his previous works but the themes never lay too on the nose. In fact, I would argue that changing his songwriting approach to fit this new genre excursion adds more of a human-like quality to this album that I haven't got from a Porter project. The lyrical angle is much more free-flowing than I expected. At one moment, he could be jokingly kicking himself in the ass for a dumb mistake he made during a show, another time he can be sarcastically bragging about his starpower, or he could be referencing the monkey taking a piss in its mouth video, or criticizing his own Pitchfork reviwes.
Whatever the case is, no matter what subject Porter may lay his emotions on, the thread that connects this album together is Empathy. Self-Empathy. Not in that corny way where you show love for yourself even when something awful happens. What he's depicting is a different, fleshed out kind of self-respect that while it may be hard to find, it will always be there. It's the voice that pops up on rare instances that says to you, "You're are respected and appreciated for everything you are." On every track, Porter Robinson comes closer and closer to finding that voice that puts his mind at ease.
For every fuck up or embarrassing moment that you so desperately want to bury, the resolution for embracing those imperfect moments is finding a newfound respect for yourself. Porter's journey from a self-deprecating entity trying not to make a laughing stock out of his humor and references, to a mature well-reasoned artist that appreciates everything that has arisen out of his career, both the good and the bad, is something that resonated completely with me.
His personal evolution that he's trying to project on this album feels very much in tune with the way I search for self respect. If anything, this project reminded me that I should keep doing these reviews. I got stirred up in my head and took a pause from writing these album reviews because most of the stuff I wrote either came off samey, or focused more on the technicalities of an album more than the emotional weight, or just not diving deep into the music enough for my satisfaction. And while I do wish I could re-write some of these reviews for all the nitpicks that I want to delete, I realize that getting my opinion out there matters more than how spot on my writing is. I could substantially edit or delete my work, or alternatively, I could just smile at the progress I made and that would be enough. No matter what the quality of the work is, when I'm finished typing a review, I feel gratification because I was able to do it and I'm able to do many.
How Porter depicts his emotional process for finding unconditional self-respect resonates with me in this current moment. We're all just trying to do our best, and while we may not think we're "the best" at what we do, we respect ourselves for keeping up with what makes us productive and emotionally satisfied. This is easily another win for Porter and one of the most cathartic listens I had with a new album this year.
FAVORITES: Cheerleader, Russian Roulette, Year of the Cup, Easier to Love You, Mona Lisa, Is There Really No Happiness?
LEAST FAVORITE: Perfect Pinterest Garden
8.5/10
