By zak kolesar
It would be fitting to say with a follow up so polished that it represents a period of maturity for DJ Porter Robinson. However, those same intimate vibes that were prevalent on Porter Robinson’s explosive 2014 debut album Worlds take on a childlike whimsy with Nurture. While taking interest in art like video games (see Virtual Self S/T EP) and anime (see “dullscythe,” the music video for “Musician”) cultivates a more personal, directed listener experience. While Robinson is in that category of Skrillex proteges, the North Carolina DJ was pushing toward more euphoric dance music than the erratic dubstep of his idol that we even saw back in 2017 with the Virtual Self side project.
Seven years, however, have passed between that release and the sophomore follow up under the Porter Robinson moniker. While the 14 tracks off of Nurture don’t necessarily put you in the headspace to be dancing at a music festival like songs from Worlds did, they’re still choice for dancing around the bedroom.
Song titles like “do-re-mi-fa…” and “Mother” are surface-level callbacks to childhood. The acoustic-tinged “Blossom” plays out much like a lullaby. This theme of being confined to one’s safe space at home, again, checks off because Robinson cited an opportune moment of isolated creativity as Covid shut the world down. In an interview with Audacy, the DJ also referenced an emphasis on becoming a singer-songwriter-producer hybrid for this project specifically.
The intro track, “Lifelike,” drops the listener into an ambient field of blissful piano chords, soaring strings, and homey studio bustlings like equipment moving and hands clapping. Leading into the first drop of the second track “Look at the Sky,” we hear what appears to sound like Robinson taking a quick inhale, segueing beautifully into five minutes of lush sounds.
On Worlds, it was tracks such as “Sad Machine” and “Sea of Voices” where Robinson was experimenting with his own voice that also stood out the most. While the features on the DJ’s debut were welcomed, they also felt disjointed from the rest of the album. Nurture bridges that gap by putting Robinson front and center, in the driver’s seat for the whole trip. Thus, it’s a more cohesive project, with tracks such as “Something Comforting” and “Sweet Time” almost serving as introspective inner dialogue.
If there is any significant shift in style to be observed over the seven years in between LPs, it was most likely foreshadowed by Robinson’s video game side project Virtual Self. The alias, which he debuted at the end of 2017, more so toes the line of festival music, while Nurture carries the feeling of an OST to a fantasy video game. The influence of Dance Dance Revolution, one of Robinson’s earliest-cited inspirations, oozes through on glitchy songs like the latest single “Musician” and “Wind Tempos.” “Get Your Wish” starts off with an orchestral tinge of Sonic and F-Zero before we’re introduced to the floating, digitized voice of Robinson. A mixed bag of atmospheric vocal effects also gives the illusion of Robinson encompassing several different characters in this so-called game of an album.
On Nurture, the sweet tingles of hyperpop-ism are still inherent in Robinson’s work, but there appears to be a more peaceful nature to his music. The six-minute “Wind Tempos” is, perhaps, the beaming example of this. It contains the sense of adventure that those more electronic-heavy Bon Iver songs post-22, A Million. There are graceful piano chords, heavenly, over-dubbed vocals, and pensive breakdowns.
While the first two Porter Robinson albums clock in at about the same hour-long running time, Worlds more so provides space in songs for listeners to get lost on the dance floor. Nurture, on the other hand, does as its name implies and comforts you, most likely while getting lost in the private sanctuary of a spot many sought last year in times of solace and turmoil: the bedroom.
Nurture also leaves the listener off exactly where it feels like it should with “Trying to Feel Alive.” One of the song’s lines can be seen both as a way of seeking comfort inside (perhaps with the sunlight beaming through the window) and finding comfort outside when the walls of your bedroom feel like they’re caving in.
Both are activities that are usually done in solace. And alone.
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