A juxtaposition of synth-heavy art pop

New Orleans, Louisiana. A place known as the birthing ground for many diverse musical styles, has given bands a canvas to draw upon when crafting their sound. For People Museum, growing up in New Orleans, they have taken the city’s musical history and blended it together to create something ominous and celebratory. Formed in 2016 by Claire Givens and Jeremy Phipps, People Museum have taken the sounds of their hometown and contributed to the city’s musical landscape. Their new album Relic combines synth-brass art pop with elements of southern hip-hop, jazz, blues and electronica that explores themes about neglect, stagnation, environmental destruction and the uplifting feeling the city has displayed in times of despair.

The album starts off with “Home” that begins the ominous/uplifting theme with a spoken word section about describing home as an attachment to a place, regardless of tragedies. At the end of “Home” a slow piano cues right into the next track “Sinking.” Here, the track speeds up the tempo of the pianos, as Givens begins to sing demonstrating her lush choral inspired vocals.

The next track “Wherever I Go” moves into an uplifting dance territory as the use of deep bass and trombones becomes more prevalent. Here the song mixes synths with the aforementioned instruments to create a hybrid of electronic music and soul. While tracks like “Sleep” and “Back to Myself” use a more electropop sound, overloading these songs with glossy synths and trombones overpower the rhythm of the song that unfortunately disengages the listener, especially upon repeated listens. This isn’t helped by the fact that the next song “Saturn Rings” begins to repeat covered territory, the same flaws from the previous tracks with disjointed juxtaposition of ’80s glossed over synths, deep bass and blaring trombones creates a dance track that doesn’t hit its mark here.

Fortunately, the album’s next two tracks divert away with new ideas. “Whole Heart (2023)” has a bouncy rhythm, its new wave bass and synths add a calm lighthearted vibe from the previous over-dross sound and wispy backgrounds. “Coast,” while dressed in synths does not suffer from the flaws of the previous tracks. The song knows its identity as an EDM focused track. Starting out with backtracks of Givens’ vocals before a cue into the melody, the trombones are more subdued here, accompanying the synths and vocals, not overpowering them. The next track “Fountain” while light and pleasant, serves more as a warm up for the triumphant closing of the last two tracks. On its own it’s a nice addition, a quieter, softer take on elements of southern hip-hop, in comparison with the next two tracks it’s definitely one of the weaker moments on the album.

The last tracks “Relic” and “Lie for You” are some of the bests found in this album. “Relic” starts off high with a slow build –  layered with melodic horns before finishing its climax with a vibrating rhythm section, making this song a must listen from start to finish. The last track “Lie for You” is a nice contrast from the previous up-tempo track. A somber ballad, Givens vocals are on full display here, while the drums, bass and trombones add a nice coda to the song, driving home the main theme of the album and taking the band’s sound back to jazz.

While some of the more dance inspired tracks of Relic don’t hit their mark and could definitely use some restraint on the synths, the album’s themes of somber expression and celebratory memory of New Orleans gives listeners the sounds of hope that are crafted upon a distinct palate of influences. The tracks that know their identity are the one’s the demonstrate this idea the most. For their second album People Museum are still exploring, finding their sound, but if the album’s best tracks are a good indicator, it will be something special to witness.