Album Review: SBTRKT – “Wonder Where We Land”

SBTRKT, the reclusive electronic artist, came into the fray with his self-titled debut album that combined house, some dubstep elements and minimalist soul. With collaborations under his belt with Little Dragon’s Yukimi Nagano, Londoner Jessie Ware and relative newcomer, the soulful Sampha, his debut was a breath of fresh digital air in this era of stagnant EDM and soulless pop. Of course we were all waiting for something else that he could knock our socks off with, and with the announcement of Wonder Where We Land, our prayers seemed to be answered. Unfortunately, it’s not the triumphant return we were hoping for and instead we have a bit of a mish-mash of good ideas executed poorly, and some perfectly fine tracks in terms of the way he goes about making them.

We start off with some ambient tracks like “Day 1” and “Day 5” which aren’t his best, but the little motifs do bring some cool noises and engrossing atmospheres to the table. “Lantern” is one of the best tracks on here, and one that I’ve been searching for, it’s one that has SBTRKT being SBTRKT: an instrumental with jarring changes and a fast-paced foundation underneath it all. However within the first 5 tracks, “Wonder Where We Land” and “Higher” don’t seem as on-point as these others do. “Higher” features rapper Raury just everyday spitting over an honestly cool beat, but the consistency doesn’t deter the lyrics. “Wonder Where We Land” is a Sampha track at its most meh with no real buildup, but like rain you’re wishing to go away.

Things start to pick up with the guest vocals and ideas with “Look Away” featuring Chairlift’s Caroline Polachek, who’s autotuned aspects work well with her natural voice. However, the same problem with a lot of these songs is prevalent here: It ends abruptly with no room for fades or growth. “Temporary View” is the track that is most like what I expected from this album. It sounds like a b-side from the debut, only with a lot softer electronics and a gorgeous, deepening piano that sends you through space as depicted by 2001: A Space Odyssey. “NEW DORP, NEW YORK.” is one of the most fun singles that I’ve heard, and that combined with the pure nonsensical lyrics by Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig just makes for a strange trip through The City That Never Sleeps. “Everybody Knows” is what I would loved to see this album be about. It sounds a bit more like Disclosure, but even then, the combination of the sultry sleepy vocals and the strings that come up in the background is a must-have for a electro-funk playlist.

The tracks from here on out are a bit more experimental and you begin to see a natural progression through this mess, although it’s still a mess. “Problem (Solved)” with the lovely Jessie Ware, is short but mystical with the minimalist piano being the first of the movement into traditional instruments with Wonder Where We Land. It’s an R&B waft through the cherry blossoms. “If It Happens” is more of a John Legend-esque piano interlude with Sampha, and it works within the last five songs, but not in the whole context of the album, beautiful but misguided. “Gon Stay” is the most ambitious of the songs with Sampha though. It jumps from the soulful vocals to the instrumental with a gorgeous, delayed bass that’s akin to a sadder version of Rusted Root’s “Send Me On My Way”. It has very little electronic blips and boops in it, and it’s like SBTRKT’s journey into classic rock and blue-eyed soul. The chopped-and-screwed piano on “The Light” is dark and plays a nice hook, even though the tune seems to lack a lot of punch for the vocals to show their true potential like “Pharaohs” on the debut. Finally, “Voices in My Head” has nothing short of the same problems that “Higher” did, a childish rap with a killer instrumental backing it. The jazz-oriented music from Warpaint doesn’t deserve to have A$AP Ferg rap over it. It mirrors the biggest problem that I have with this album: Killer introduction but a less than stellar ending.