In a year filled with buzzbands playing nineties-inspired beach rock, Twin Shadow makes a pretty ballsy attempt at breaking through the crowd with some truly interesting and fresh material. If you haven’t heard about this artist, I would not be the least bit surprised. What I have managed to dig up on the guy is that his name is George Lewis Jr. and he plays music. That’s about it. However, my interest in him hasn’t really been about his story since I’ve started listening to his music.
His situation is reminiscent of Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti to me. Ariel Pink’s 2010 album “Before Today” makes it very apparent that Ariel doesn’t belong in this day and age, but the throwback feel is not overly pretentious and forced. This is how I would describe “Forget” by Twin Shadow. The style of this LP is so rooted in mid to late 80s New Wave that it becomes a powerful outlook on that time of music itself. It makes me question a lot of it, but at the same time answers a lot of my questions about the progression of post-punk and whatnot. Twin Shadow gets it.
Album starter “Tyrant Destroyed” is one of the slower, eerier tracks on “Forget”. The lyrics “When you were fifteen, I know what you said. ‘I’ll never let another black boy break my heart'” are particularly hitting to me. As the song ascends into its chorus, signs of an anthem start showing up.
Going into “When We’re Dancing”, the mood is a little more upbeat, however the underlying feel of the song is unusual. This situation extends across the entire album and is the culprit to why this album makes me look at 80s pop music in such a “did I miss something?” kind of way.
“Shooting Holes” is one of the dancier songs in this collection, adding funk-inspired guitar riffs, bass lines, and strings. It demonstrates Lewis’ talent at writing pop music, but with a serious flare in his mature lyrics and voice. In fact, he talks in a video interview about how he really wishes his voice would sound different. Every artist has something that they could change about their sound, but seriously, his voice fits everything so well that it’s one of the last things I would want to be different.
“Tether Beat” has a crazy awesome drum beat and… ugh… there was so much thought put into this track and everything on the album that it becomes monotonous when I say how well-made everything is. Because it really is as simple as that. Songs like “Slow” and “Castles In The Snow” are superbly composed pieces. Not only are they awesomely written and created by George Lewis Jr., producer extraordinaire Chris Taylor (also of Grizzly Bear) got on the Twin Shadow train and produced this album. Thumps up to him because everything from Grizzly Bear is produced to a highly professional degree and his talents migrate here as well.
“Forget” is one of the most refreshing albums of the year, right next to 4AD label buddy, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti. I can’t wait to see and hear more from Twin Shadow in the future.
WINNER: “Forget” by Twin Shadow
WHY: All the songs from “Forget” are so well-crafted, making Twin Shadow stick out from the more popular artists of 2010. Totally fresh, totally throwback.
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