Here are a few questions for our readers who consider themselves to be devoted connoisseurs of mainstream music: do you remember where were you when Beyoncé released her self-titled surprise record almost 2 years ago? Do you remember what it felt like hitting play for the first time and hearing that dark, diverse multitude of stylistic shifts? Did you ever consider to yourself the groundbreaking potential this record had in shaping the sound of not just pop music, but other genres as well? If you answered yes to all of the above, you might be interested in the debut album from one of the aforementioned record’s main producers, BOOTS. The moniker for musician Jordan Asher, BOOTS rose to prominence in December 2013 when his name appeared in the liner notes of Beyoncé Knowles’ fifth album. Very little was known about the name at the time, other than he had signed with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation months earlier, that there were rumors that he could be the frontman for the defunct indie group Blonds (which was an accurate conjecture), and that he had supposedly produced somewhere around 85% of this Beyoncé record, acting as the cornerstone of the dark and experimental nature of the album. Fast-forward to today and BOOTS has made quite a name for himself. After the success of Beyoncé, BOOTS went on to work with other collaborators like Run The Jewels on 2014’s Run The Jewels 2 and FKA twigs on this year’s M3LL155X (pronounced Melissa) EP. He also released a mixtape, WinterSpringSummerFall, in 2014, and an EP/short-film, Motorcycle Jesus, earlier this year. Here we are 23 months after the beginnings of Asher’s rise to fame, and we’ve been given his debut solo album, AQUΛRIA. Drawing from R&B and industrial rock influences, AQUΛRIA is BOOTS’ chance to make a name for himself as both a producer AND solo artist. The results are quite profound.
Opening with “Brooklyn Gamma” (which was co-produced by El-P from Run The Jewels), AQUΛRIA dives headfirst into a whirlwind of distortion. Supposedly Asher has stated that only 3 things happen simultaneously on each track (excluding vocals, of course). This is proven to be true at the beginning as we hear a low-register, almost heartbeat-like percussion pattern. This is juxtaposed with a live drum kit playing this sporadic pattern that has this very metallic feel to it. Before the synths come in, BOOTS bluntly delivers the opening lines “it ain’t as good as it gets, if you got holes all over your chest”. As the track continues, his voice becomes more distorted, and while there’s some sense of clarity that becomes more prevalent, it’s soon obliterated. It’s an occasionally-minimal, occasionally-intense opening track that delivers the appropriate amounts of exhilaration. Following track “C.U.R.E.” was supposedly created under the influence of mushrooms, but what achieved fruition during that time was definitely worth putting on this record. While the underlying beat is simplistic, paralleling his production from Beyoncé’s track “Haunted” (which was originally an Asher cut), the overlying elements are chaotic and attention-grabbing. One could possibly be turned off by the use of trivial, made-up words like “millionses”, but the matching production makes the lyricism seem natural and bearable. Following track “Oraclies” (a portmanteau of the words “oracle” and “lies”) is played out in a similar fashion, but it’s a little more minimal, a little more melodic, and definitely more controlled. It’s followed by “Bombs Away”. I appreciate this track a lot more than I once did. Whether that’s because I’m hearing in the context of the rest of the record, or because I’ve played it so many times doesn’t matter. The darkest cut from the first half of AQUΛRIA, there are a lot of parallels to the WinterSpringSummerFall mixtape. It’s almost as if BOOTS took the best elements from that release, added the best of Trent Reznor, and put them all into a hip-hop track.
“I Run Roulette”, a cut from Motorcycle Jesus and the first BOOTS track I ever listened to, fits nicely into the middle of the tracklist. While I’ll always prefer it within the context of the aforementioned, it’s a wise choice for this release too. Layered with a highly-distorted guitar, a live drum kit, and impressive synthesizers, the track definitely represents the industrial rock sound best on this record. After a brief interlude entitled “Gallows”, we’re treated to the title track. Featuring vocals from former Dirty Heads vocalist/bassist Anger Deradoorian, the song parallels “We Will Rock You” in a sense with several handclaps, the similar key and tempo, and is overall minimalism. Another hip-hop inspired cut, my favorite element has to be the lyricism. Asher’s lyrics are mainly for detail-oriented listeners, but the line “rings getting pried off, kings gonna die off”, sung through deep vocal modulation and almost in an acapella fashion, cuts through all the distortion and is one of the more memorable parts of the album. “Earthquake” is a logical following track. The layers of low-register synthesizers, atmospheric percussion, and minimal guitar are impressive.
While the track might be hard to embrace at this point in the record, it’s quickly followed by another Motorcycle Jesus cut, “Only”. Perhaps the most soulful and beautiful song on AQUΛRIA, the listener is treated to a minimal setup of Asher’s voice, a softly-played drum kit, a piano, and very few synthesizers. The entire track seems to be fed through this airy filter, but it’s still very beautiful. It builds to this discordant climax but fades out nicely. “Dead Come Running” is one of the more impressive songs on the album. Lyrically inspired by BOOTS’ real-life encounters with death, a topic also brought up on WinterSpringSummerFall, we hear blunt lines like “dead come running like a wolf with a meat purse” accompanied by live instrumentation similar to the kind on “I Run Roulette”, as well as my favorite vocal modulation on the record. The song breathes one last bit of energy into AQUΛRIA before it closes out with “Still”. Almost psychedelic in nature, the song features a noticeable amount of guitar, backed by some soft but wonderful drum and synthesizer programming. It’s also the only song on the album that’s remotely in a major key. It’s symbolic of the faint glimpses of hope that appear within the cracks of each track finally culminating into something beautiful.
AQUΛRIA is not an album for everyone. Some will be disheartened by its sonic perpetuity. Others will find its lush soundscapes to be too dark or too similar to Nine Inch Nails. Some will decry the material as impressive but not suitable for Asher’s vocals. It’s very possible that the majority of casual listeners will undoubtedly be taken back by the fact that it sounds little to nothing like the self-titled Beyoncé record that he had a hand in producing. For those that dare brave it, and end up enjoying it, you’ll feel that same exhilaration you did two years ago with the aforementioned. BOOTS has crafted a groundbreaking, genre-defying body of work that channels a vast amount of influences into an impressive 40-minute auditory adventure. If AQUΛRIA is another stepping stone for BOOTS on the path to recognition beyond his featured work, it’s definitely a sizable one to say the least.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPkLz2quNOw[/youtube]
Finally, a review(er) that gets it! I’ve read a few other less glowing reviews of Aquaria and all I could think was, ‘these people just don’t get it.’ They questioned the dark lyrics and dark tone; they complained that his raps were too monotone; they said it was too diverse and therefore, too hard to categorize. “Who is he as an artist?”, they exclaimed. HA! From what I know about this amazing man Jordan Asher, is that he doesn’t give a flip about being what you want or expect him to be! Not all artists come from a cookie-cutter mold and not all artists are here to please the masses. As for myself, I am not a music fan who wants carefully structured ‘hits’ shoved in my face day in and day out. I listen to many types of music (funnily enough, not Beyonce; and Voivod rules m/ ) and I appreciate Boots’ ability to capture so much on one record. I am looking forward to what our future holds with Boots in it.