Little Dragon's fourth album sees the soulful, Swedish-Japanese synthpop group explore ambitious sonic territory with fresh and exciting, if occasionally inconsistent, new sounds.
The song "Mirror" opens the album with a somber, shimmering mysteriousness that combines sleek, echoing vocals with synth spikes that shine like constellations in a night sky of deep, heavy drumbeats. This interesting juxtaposition of bright and gloomy effectively establishes the atmosphere for the whole of this album: fast-moving and fun, but with dark overtones and a sense of discomfort lurking underneath the surface. The tracks on Nabuma Rubberband sound accessible and comfortable to those familiar with Little Dragon or similar R&B pop acts, but they're never exactly like something you've heard before.
Compared to Little Dragon's previous efforts, this album's tracks emphasize heavier dance beats and more experimental sounds. "Paris" and "Underbart" stand out with cool, beat-driven trip-hop. "Killing Me" in particular calls attention to itself with a boucing sawtooth bassline and delivers every bit of excitement it promises with easily-followed lyrics and resonating background sounds. Others, like slow jam "Pink Cloud" or the weird, ghostly song "Only One" . These tracks' textures make intriguing transitions between the dance-friendly, pop moments, but don't have the same appealing substance as the more grounded pop tunes.
Still, the fact that Nabuma Rubberband captures the rare feeling of a dance record that really benefits from a complete run-through rather than individual track-by-track listening is a testament to Little Dragon's songwriting abilities. Even if not every experiment on this album is a single-worthy standout, Little Dragon have once again crafted an album that'll get your feet moving right away and leave you with thinking enough to come back to it.
Favorite tracks: "Underbart", "Paris", "Killing Me"
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