‘Multi-Love’ manages to be multi-faceted amid a myriad of musical influences the multi-layered sound more than unravels with each listen. Unknown Mortal Orchestra originally was quite unknown when they first came to be, leader singer Ruban Nielson left one band and started releasing his solo musical escapades on Bandcamp, only to have them blow up and have bloggers search for the band behind the sound. UMO’s latest release has blossomed into more than a sole creator’s musical demos, with their third release they have a strong foot hold on a solid sound.
The title track kicks off the album, an upbeat love song that sets the tone for tracks to follow, stating that “it’s not that this song’s about her -all songs are about her”. With a slight disco influence it’s not hard to imagine that Nielson states he was heavily influenced by black female disco and soul singers. Short elements of slowed down house and electronic music drop in and out of ‘Multi-Love’, the album and song, sporadically but always purposefully. Lyrically ‘Multi-Love’ seems to be multi-layered as well the millennial anthem ‘Can’t Keep Checking My Phone’, an upbeat dance heavy track -what one would get if they put Donna Summer, The Beach Boys and Remy Shand into a blender- is either entirely non-sequitur or the rambles of someone rushing through an unwanted phone call half-assed to speed through the annoyance.
With a great combination of sounds, moods, and emotions ‘Multi-Love’ delivers a wide array of successful songs all strung together to mesh perfectly. From moving to melancholy and back to moving this LP is another one worth critical acclaim by the UMO trio.
Rating 7.4/10