My first impressions of The Chainsmokers’ new album “Sick Boy… This Feeling” is that it isn’t as good as what I’ve heard of their past work.
The Chainsmokers — the occasional artist, occasional DJ and production duo — has only put out one other full-length album of their own, but they seem to have moved slightly backward in terms of quality. I preferred the sounds of their previous album “Memories… Do Not Open” to their newly released music.
Not only is the recent release shorter than their past album — totaling seven songs and only 23 minutes long — it also relies more heavily on guest collaborations. The “feat” tag appears next to the band name on four of the seven songs, resulting in an inconsistent series. Each song brings something totally different than those before it, and while that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it doesn’t make for a very cohesive album.
This is especially ironic considering one of the main themes of the new album is identity. “Only thing I can’t afford is to lose myself tryna be somebody,” the band sings on the fourth track, “Somebody.” But the band does seem to lose themselves in the constantly changing landscape of “Sick Boy… This Feeling.” It certainly seems like they’re trying to be somebody with all the guest artist collaborations featured on the new album.
Individually, the songs are high energy. Vocals are dispersed through intriguing bursts of electronica to keep the ear engaged and focused. This is definitely dance music. Steady rhythms and fluid background sounds keep the songs interesting, but aren’t enough to tie the album together.
The three songs that really grabbed me on my first listen were “Save Yourself,” “Somebody” and “You Owe Me.” The first is a loud blend of various electronic sounds, all coordinated with a strong underlying beat. Parts of “Somebody’s” vocals reminded me of Twenty One Pilots, while other parts seemed more reminiscent of Coldplay. The lyrics are accompanied by echoing background and steady rhythmic undertones.
“You Owe Me,” seems to be the least electronically augmented song on the album and is a delight for different reasons. It sounds more sincere than the other songs and is sung more than it’s mixed. Although these songs were my favorites on the new album, none of them could stand up to the band’s previous work “Something Just Like This.”
None of the songs were objectively bad, but none of them rose to distinguish themselves either. If I had to use one word to describe the quality of all the album’s songs, it would be “mediocre.”
I listened to “Sick Boy… This Feeling” on Spotify, but you can also find it on iTunes, Google Play and Amazon Music. I personally wouldn’t pay the $7.99 price to own the album, but it might be worth streaming if you’re a Chainsmokers fan. I won’t be adding any of the songs on this album to my playlist, but if high-energy electronic dance music is your thing, then you should check it out.
Keagan Miller is a psychology junior and Life & Arts reporter for The Battalion.