What exactly does Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith turn into sound on her new album? The title already implies the evolution in personal sound that takes place over ten tracks. It seems as if the artist has decided for herself to transform the new-age signature she has cultivated throughout her career into something new, poppy, deconstructed. The American virtually swaps her yoga mat for hyper-pop singing in claustrophobic cyberspace. The best example of this is probably »Let It Fall«, on which Smith’s voice literally rolls over with polyphonic autotune. Although: her repertoire also includes feisty and sensitive breakbeats, as demonstrated on »Is it Me or is it You?«. The piece in fourth place arguably traces the metamorphosis Smith has gone through even better. Here, the old and the new merge; over six and a half minutes, artificial vocals, electropop, pleasingly stomping kicks and incense ornaments like nimbly dripping synths take each other by the hand without seamlessly interlocking. The synthesis is choppy and ponderous, the process of artistic advancement is a sluggish beast. Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith gets it right on »Let’s Turn It Into Sound« in an arresting way, because she doesn’t deny her old musical self, but is willing to face it fully. And who knows, maybe in the future we’ll go back to ambient.
Σtella
Adagio
Sub Pop