It’s onerous to consider that The Chainsmokers that put out Sick Boy in 2018 are the identical duo that put out Memories… Do Not Open in 2017. (For reference, my overview that album .) From the manufacturing, to Drew’s vocals, to the lyricism and songwriting, every little thing feels extra refined and honest.
MDNO felt ridiculously rushed and amateurish, enjoying into The Chainsmokers’ frat boy persona and placing out stereotypical songs about love and relationships with none actual character or perception. In distinction, many the songs on Sick Boy are deep (relative to their previous songs) and introspective, “Sick Boy,” “Everybody Hates Me,” and “You Owe Me” particularly.
Then then again, Sick Boy truly has some bangers. “Siren” with Aazar and “Save Yourself” with NGHTMRE are huge collaborations with large drops made for The Chainsmokers’ explosive reside exhibits; nevertheless, as the 2 token bangers on the album, additionally they sound out place. You can’t have your cake and eat it, too.
All this isn’t to say that Sick Boy doesn’t have its points, both. The drop on “You Owe Me” remains to be onerous to take heed to, and “Beach House” nonetheless isn’t a robust music. In addition, the rollout the album, whereas it could have been efficient in sharing the idea and racking up streaming numbers, resulted in an anticipated monitor order. When the total album was accomplished with the discharge “Hope” at the moment, the order was rearranged and it now feels like a a lot totally different album than what followers have been listening to for practically all 2018. No matter if you find yourself pondering the order works higher or not, it’s going to take a while to get used to.
And ending on such an enormous banger like “Save Yourself” doesn’t actually give listeners an opportunity to decompress from the listening expertise, both.
Overall, Sick Boy is as a lot an enchancment over MDNO as you may hope for. I truly know the phrases and sing alongside to the bulk the songs on this album, versus these on MDNO, which I prayed would finish before later. And the extra introspective songs on the album are literally rock strong on their very own benefit.
While this album is a large step in the correct course, it nonetheless appears that The Chainsmokers are a little bit misplaced on their very own sound. Drew is unquestionably exhibiting his personal id together with his singing, however with so broad a range tracks and influences on Sick Boy, I hope they hone in a bit extra on a central sound in 2019. That doesn’t imply that bangers like “Siren” and “Save Yourself” wouldn’t be welcome, however perhaps they wouldn’t belong on their subsequent album.
Listen to Sick Boy, the brand new album from The Chainsmokers, beneath.