Visions of Insanity

Powell’s debut album, Sport, finds itself so in between genres that it almost lacks clear focus. This is easily understandable given that Powell himself has, up to the album release, had a controlled but insane personality, leading him to openly give out his email address so fans could individually get more out of Sport. This behavior is unconventional and yet very humanizing and both spills over and becomes part of the essence of this album.

After the thirty-second abrasive chords of “FiT_17,” the album falls right into pace with “Fuck You, Oscar.” A hurried beat and looped chunks of conversations never fully reveal what is happening but leave enough clues to know enough. “Frankie [feat. Frankie]” is almost mesmerizing with a strong beat and monotone lyrics, creating a feeling of alert hypnosis.

“Jonny [feat. Jonny]” is the opposite, coming off as not as clean sounding as the others, featuring striking guitar riffs. Everything is off kilter, which nonetheless keeps listeners’ attention. “Plastic” features a contradiction of industrial beats and looped vocal of “bitch,” and an on point punchline which help it stand out as a satirical dance song. “Mad Love” ends the album while a realization of how much Sport can dig into the head sets in. By the end, there is mostly just a feeling of uncomfortably lingering.

Sport finds itself doing the difficult task of rendering electronica human. The looped clips of human conversations add a lot to that, by achieving a sort perfection in its flaws. Sometimes the sound is jagged and not completely clean or the tempo is only just slightly off, and Powell makes this endearing and not unprofessional. Everything is able to find its balance in its displacement, keeping the abrasive simplistic and still allowing the album explore into further genres, especially in the second half. Powell knows exactly how to get inside someone’s head and makes his home there.