Skrillex Book Club: Volume 12 - Don't Get Too Close (2023)

[hprara]

Image by bepmp3

Time for the twelfth instalment in the "Skrillex Book Club".
ICYMI, we're taking a listening journey through the discography of the great Sonny Moore and sharing some of our thoughts along the way.
Last week, something weird happened.

This week, something bad happens...

Don't Get Too Close (2023)



The surprise sister album to "Quest For Fire", released the next day. Any goodwill I had towards a Skrillex comeback that came with Quest For Fire sadly could not stretch far enough to cover whatever this is. This does not come off to me as an album. This comes off as a "contractual obligation". I compare this album to when Prince released like 3 albums all within a year span to fast track his Warner contract. The quality I feel is also comparable to that era of Prince; maybe worse, definitely less bloated.

I will say, I don't dislike this album as much as I remembered when it released. First couple tracks are alright. We see the start of some shared DNA with QFF with 'Please Don't Leave Me Like This' being a more stripped back version of 'Leave Me Like This'. 'Way Back' isn't bad though Trippie Redd is a tad grating on it. 'Ceremony' is the point where things start to seem...off. I like the features, but this song is not good. The beat just feels way too milquetoast for Yung Lean or Bladee. 'Real Spring' on it's own is much better, but it almost doesn't feel like it because it lands right after. And I was excited for the Bladee appearance too, not even being a huge fan or anything. It just seemed like something that might be interesting. Sadly, almost nothing about this album is interesting. Everything after this point even if not strictly "bad" is just pretty forgettable. "3am" and "Mixed Signals" are almost good. And once again, I still just can't really get into Bibi Bourelly outside of a few cases, none of which are showcased here (though 'Painting Rainbows' is maybe closest). Even Sonny's vocals can't save the title track from it's eyeroll-worthiness. QFF might have treaded water a bit at times but this one just straight up drowns.

All in all, this album just does nothing for me. It feels like the QFF reject pile. I don't even think its just this strain of pop not being my thing, but something about this album just feels so generic. Basic, underdeveloped, uninspired. This is all the "made for radio" stuff out of the two I guess, and if that's the case, you can really tell. I'm not mad though, because what comes next makes up for it...


Now it's your turn!
What are your thoughts on this album? Do you love it/hate it? Have you even heard it? (if not, go listen, the image is a link to it's RYM page)
Speak your mind!

[gauze_]

so ive been kinda waiting for this one with a shit eating grin on my face that only got larger and larger as the weeks went on. and that sounds weird or stupid but dont get too close was actually the album i was MORE excited for. i touched on it a little last week ;3 but when the teaser dropped it ended up that most of the features and guests i was excited for were on this one. obviously i didnt know that at the time because these albums just surprise dropped with no real track list reveals from what im aware of at least. i was just barely getting into bladee at this time but his voice was instantly recognizable in the teaser. and of course yung leans voice too just a second before him. the one that surprised me the most that i was super excited for was actually prentiss, who i had become a fan of from his song i will wait and specifically this visualizer for it. if i remember correctly he was only 14 at the time and for being a kid the song is pretty good and catchy. i had a feeling that he could really make it somewhere if he honed his craft and just grinded it out a little. so imagine that feeling when a year later i recognize his voice in the teaser for the first (actually second but we werent sure how many albums he was putting out when that teaser dropped) album by skrillex in 9 years??? i was jumping around and yelling to be fully honest. and despite all this... i never listened. i didnt even listen to the song that prentiss was on. i only listened to real spring which became my most listened to track (at least on youtube music) of 2023. i just checked and its my #23 most scrobbled track all time on my lastfm and still in regular rotation. i remember hearing the middling to poor reviews and it steered me away from listening to the album even more. so its kind of obvious that for these reasons i was secretly waiting to get to this one to just know. i dont know how much ill like it if at all but i guess thats where the listening part comes in.

and i dont know what i expected. theres 3 categories i can put all these tracks into. the good, the bad, and the very abundant mid. a majority of these tracks really dont do much of anything for me. way back and selecta are good examples of a track just not having enough going for them, or summertime and painting rainbows having a clear vision but not quite making it. a special shoutout to dont get too close whos lyrics just made me hit the speed trying not to laugh gif for 4 minutes. i only have 2 tracks i can solidly say i dislike and those are bad for me and dont go. i dont think i need to really explain why im not big on them. and finally theres a few tracks that i definitely enjoyed even if its only a small amount. ceremony wasnt quite there but the performances from lean and bladee were enough to carry it for me. 3am is sort of the same way where its got some stuff going on and its good enough but its not great. maybe its prentiss bias but he does sound pretty decent. the chopped vocals at the end were good too. and real spring is still my goat uncontested goat. over all this album just feels like a mess of scraps that werent really meant to go out except for a few. cant quite say im a fan but im happy to have at least listened to it after 3 years of saying "ill get to it eventually." mixed signals shouldve been juked too

best track: real spring
worst track: dont go

[hprara]

ceremony wasnt quite there but the performances from lean and bladee were enough to carry it for me.

idk i just can't get into it. the instrumental is too generic and both of them just kind sit on top of it imo. real spring is good tho like i said.

mixed signals shouldve been juked too

so true

[RAW_]

I nearly considered going the avgn ghostbusters route of going "nope, no review, i refuse" for this, but decided to soldier on. Everyone else has gone through the muck and mire, and its not fair to the other members of the SBC for me to opt out of this. Lets just get this over with before I collapse.

Ok to be quite honest this wasn't nearly as bad when I heard it 3 years ago. It's honestly more boring than anything else, which might be worse, because it makes talking about this record even harder, because there's really very little I can come up with to talk about. Really this album feels less like an album and more of a "Now That's What I Call Music" compilation that just happens to have all of its tracks produced by Skrillex. Not like you'd be able to tell either way, because he's really watered down his sound a lot here compared to QFF. Most of the songs on here have a fairly pathetic and empty sound palette. The only songs I can say I "liked" were probably Way Back, Selecta, Real Spring, and Mixed Signals. There weren't any songs that I flat out despise, with the one MAJOR exception being the title track. I hate this shit so much. Sounds like a song Emily Montes would make if she was 30 and never moved out of here parent's house. I can't be bothered trying to come up with anything to say about the other tracks.

And yes I agree Mixed Signals needs a juked version ASAP. Scratch that, can we get a juked version of the whole album?

[bepmp3]

all skrillex and swae lee songs hath right to be juked

crazy frog ahh album cover. this is not an original joke by far just someone had to comment on the cover.