A rejuvenating record
As we get older, we begin to fall in this cycle of “wake, eat, work, sleep” and repeat this cycle for most of our lives. Falling into this cycle sucks. The further we fall into this cycle, the more we want to break free from it, but can’t for a myriad of reasons. Sometimes, it would be nice to just say “screw it, I’m done. It’s time to break free.” For Scott Kirkland, The Trip Home is exactly that.
This album is the sixth studio effort released by The Crystal Method, and it is the first released since Ken Jordan’s retirement from music in 2017. Now working on The Crystal Method as a solo project, Scott Kirkland incorporates a fresh-sounding big beat attitude that put him and Jordan on the map with their debut album, Vegas. In a way, Jordan’s retirement almost revitalized Kirkland’s musical output, with a degree of youthfulness designed for a late night on the town.
The youthfulness on this LP shines through on “Holy Arp,” providing a revitalized, energetic big beat music that has an attitude. The production takes more of a breakbeat turn, featuring funk-influenced beats and breaks that could easily be fine-tuned and modified for a James Brown song and blend in with the rest of the Brown’s product. There’s a sense from Kirkland on this song in particular that he isn’t conforming to the formulaic output most producers follow nowadays. It’s refreshing to hear something that doesn’t conform to industry standards, especially considering this is the same group that had LMFAO on 2009’s Divided by Night.
Drum machines contribute to this youthful vibe that Kirkland channels on this album; “Turbulence” is able to find a balance between ethereal, mellow instrumentation and the synthesizer-heavy dance direction the song goes later on. With sprinkles of glitches carefully spread throughout the song and smooth, low-key house production, this song may represent the album at its best: a fresh start.
Even when this album goes in a more sinister, darker direction, as heard on “Carry On” and “The Drive Inside,” The Trip Home still keeps this innate sense of curiosity throughout. On the latter of the two tracks, a morbid sense of curiosity exists that invites the listener to discover the unknown and find out what lies behind the mysterious door at the end of the hallway in almost every scary movie.
Contrary to advice, someone normally shouts when there’s a creepy door in a horror film–that being: “don’t open the door, because you’re going to die” and the door is still opened anyways. Opening the door that leads to the song “Chapter One” may be one of the most pleasing surprises this album delivers. A nuanced but passionate vocal performance from Teflon Sega captivates in many ways because of how little there is from the R&B singer. Sega’s performance on the track still manages to enhance the song and, combined with uncommon but fitting instrumentation, creates something of awe.
And as a whole, The Trip Home does just that: creates awe. Kirkland shows that even after two decades of producing music, and even after losing his musical partner to retirement, there’s still a spark inside that may need a firestarter to engulf the mind in creativity.
Kirkland just found that firestarter.
Leave a Comment