Tensnake's debut album,
Glow, came out last month. It's taken me a while to put up this review, as I've been unsure about what I think of the album.
What should I expect?
Truth be told, I don't know a lot about Tensnake; from the bits and pieces I've found out, he seems to be a German DJ/producer, who's been making music for a good few years. However, it's taken him until 2014 to bring out an album.
Although a lot of places on the internet classify him in the 'deep house' genre,
Glow is not just a deep house album. It definitely has a house vibe to it, but it's got a pretty bright and funky sound to it.
You will probably like Tensnake if you like Madeon, Daft Punk, and Disclosure.
How does it sound?
Glow is a strange album. It really sounds like a smelting pot of 80s funk/disco and house, but somehow doesn't sound like funky house. For me, it's definitely a welcome sound though.
For those of you who know very little about house and are happy to admit it,
Glow features crisp electro synths that are pretty reminiscent of Breakbot, and a warm, soft sound that really fits the album title pretty well. The pop-tinged melodies are easy to listen to, and pretty relaxing, while still keeping you engaged.
The album is definitely a mixed bag, and that's what makes it so hard to pinpoint; the album ranges from tracks like '
First Song' with it's post-dubstep vibes, to tracks like '
No Colour' that sound like a warm, down tempo Daft Punk song.
However, I'm not 100% sure whether the album is a lovely collection of ideas, or highly disorganised.
Best songs:
- '
No Relief' and '
Pressure'
'
No Relief' is by far the best song on the album; a beautiful sparse soundscape that really leaves you wanting more. '
Pressure' shows a bit more of the disco side to
Glow, and the vocals by Thabo fit perfectly.
Worst song:
- '
Love Sublime', '
Selfish', '
Holla'
I thought that the disco sound on '
Love Sublime' and '
Selfish' was a little bit too much for me. Despite having Nile Rodgers on both tracks, these two are definitely amongst the weakest. And although I normally do two songs, '
Holla' does sound like he's ripping off SBTRKT a lot, which pissed me off a bit.
Overall: 5/10
While this album doesn't come even close to Disclosure's Settle, it is still an alright electronic album. Glow manages to be quite unique in the fact that the beginning and the end of the album sound very different, but I think it's a good thing, and so I'm giving it a high 5.
Why, so middle of the road? I feel mean giving it a 5, but some of the songs are kinda weak. But for an album filled with 16 songs, it's definitely to be expected. Did Tensnake over stretch himself? Almost definitely.
The album feels like a bunch of singles glued together with some OK tracks. It feels like he should have cut down to maybe 11 songs, and ran with it. Glow is unfortunately quite disorganised, and Tensnake sounds like he's tried to cram as many popular current ideas into one album.
As a result, the album has a few songs which will make pretty good singles; but although some of the singles alone are possibly 8s, the album doesn't really come together.
