Categorically his most established and accessibly evocative project yet, renowned producer and creative Bad Bubble captures the essence of isolation and longing, with the heart-breakingly poignant, powerful and beautifully designed album All My Friends.
As ever we begin with an instrumental mood, this time clean-cut and melodically emotive from the outset – the perfect prelude to the journey that follows, and a piece that genuinely feels like page one of this gripping story.
Alone follows and is simply breathtaking in its clarity, vulnerability, and melodic appeal. The lyrics pierce through with humanity and heart, fearlessly admitting the ache of loneliness through both poetry and personal anecdotes.
The now infamous Underscore is referenced, these continuous threads between works forever elevating the Bad Bubble name – undoubtedly one of our generation’s most uniquely focused, intentional and artistic gems.
For Laugh Cap, the effected vocal play and experimental eighties production returns, before the bass-heavy yet distant Stumbled Recently whispers relatable scenes of unrequited love.
Queen Balloon is an easy highlight at the mid-section, piano and folk-vocals leading with a strange kind of colorful poetic meandering. “I’ll fabricate a life with you” resounds in a complex yet catchy manner.
Tripped rhythms and hi-hats often play a key role in the Bad Bubble sound, and this album is no exception, despite its subtlety. The People At The Table brings that quality to the forefront, along with falsetto vocals relaying the words of a protagonist broken by love.
Retro gamer layers rain down for the unmistakable Tuesday, boldly passionate and intentional in its storytelling – ultimately heartbreaking in its revelations and the sheer power of these scenes. A fascinating track, piercingly honest yet uncertain, increasingly intense and hauntingly poignant.
In Whatever follows with a simple, melancholic piano and vocal presentation – well-placed for impact after the inescapable chaos and desperation of before. Then we get distance again, poetry and choir-like breaths of sound, for the fearless yet accessible My Head Ruins Everything.
Wrapping up this immense and eye-opening venture is One Fine Day, layers of voice cascading as the energy rises and the warmth slowly but surely envelops or swallows up the listener – so much so that the silence ensuing at the end is unsettling, and heavy.
The unfiltered depths of the human experience, captured and compiled in what feels like both an artistic explosion and a finely-curated playlist of hypnotic, imaginative songs.
Bad Bubble remains recognizable, and undeniably authentic – in ways unparalleled right now. All My Friends strikes down like nothing else.
Album out July 25. Find Bad Bubble on Twitter & Instagram.
