Exeter is the third studio album by the Swedish rapper Bladee. It was released by Year0001 on 8 April 2020. Recorded during a week period in Gotland, it is his first album to be significantly produced by Gud. It is an experimental pop album that has also been described as containing influences from cloud rap and "blissful" pop music. Its lyrics are stripped down and minimal, and explore themes of optimism and adoration. Compared to his previous work, Exeter is more hopeful and positive, has stripped-back production that usually contains no drums, and contains Auto-Tuned vocals. It was promoted with a European tour during October 2020, and received acclaim from Pitchfork and laut.de
Background and release
Bladee released his second studio album Red Light on 11 May 2018.[1] It received an infamous review from Anthony Fantano,[2] who has since called it one of his most negative reviews ever.[3] Later that year, Bladee released the mixtape Icedancer,[4] which was followed by 2019's Trash Island, a collaboration album with Drain Gang.[5]Exeter was executive produced by Gud, which marks the first time Bladee has significantly worked with the producer on an album.[6][7] It was recorded in a week during a trip to Gotland during summer 2019.[8] Speaking with Spotify, he said the inspiration behind the album "was trying to paint and express an inner image or feeling that I have through sound".[8]Exeter was released by Year0001 on 8 April 2020. He embarked on a European tour during October 2020, to support the album.[7]
Composition
Overview
Though Yannik Gölz of laut.de has said Exeter is "a cloud rap distillate as an experimental pop album",[9] Torsten Ingvaldsen from Hypebeast wrote that the album departs from Bladee's "normative blend of ambient pop and cloudrap [sic]".[7] He also believed the album's atmosphere was more psychedelic, the production contains a "blend of trance pads and trap", and thought the production was more stripped-back.[7]Pitchfork's Ben Dandridge-Lemco wrote that the album pushes toward "blissful pop and strips down his lyrics to their most minimal extreme". He also thought that Gud's production "glues the album together".[6] Gud's production on the album typically reduces the echo effects in the album's psychedelic and synthesized sound. There are usually no drums in the tracks, and the production simply contains off-course sounds with "beeps and bleeps". The album also consists of odd melodies that are created by Bladee's Auto-Tuned vocals.[9] Gölz thought that the album was probably inspired by Yves Tumor, Clams Casino, Hiroshi Yoshimura, or Brian Eno.[9]
The lyrics in Exeter are stripped down and minimal,[6] and explore themes of optimism and adoration.[9][10] Bladee's voice was described as "fragile" by Gölz, and he wrote that the lyrics are "presented so vulnerable and naked". He also thought that the album is more hopeful and positive compared to Bladee's previous work.[9] Dandridge-Lemco highlighted the worldbuilding in Bladee's music, and thought that the album "sounds like a warped version of Mario's journey to save Princess Peach".[6]The Fader's Salvatore Maicki wrote that it "feels like a ghoulish circus with no finite boundaries".[11]
Songs
With its nine tracks, Exeter is Bladee's shortest album.[7] The opening track is "Mirror (Hymn) - Intro", which showcases Bladee repeating three phrases: "Mirror in the way", "Follow all the way", and "Window in the way" in a "circular pattern" over sparkling and ascending notes. The track then sees Bladee singing: "Ego in the way/I go all the way/I'm not in the way". Dandridge-Lemco wrote that the track "serves as a blueprint for his approach". The following "Wonderland" contains an appearance from Ecco2K, which Dandridge-Lemco thought helped kept the track grounded.[6] "Merry-Go-Round" explores the boundaries of Bladee's life atop claps from a drum machine and "glowing synthetic notes". Hubert Adjei-Kontoh from Pitchfork believed the production "creates an oddly analog effect" and that the track "gets behind Bladee's nihilism, where he hides the lyrical melancholy of a true romantic".[12] Dandridge-Lemco said the track strikes "a satisfying balance between simple writing and catchy melody".[6] "Rain3ow Star (Love Is All)" follows, a track where Bladee uses his voice as an instrument, and allows space for the production to breathe.[6]
"Every Moment Special" contains delicate synthesizers, drums that are slightly syncopated, and a "dreamy instrumental arrangement" according to Hypebeast's Charlie Zhang.[13] The song's lyrics are simple and only contain two repeated phrases;[6] Zhang described Bladee's vocals on the track as "moody" and thought the simple lyrics blend well with the "obscured distortion effects and feedback".[13] Dandridge-Lemco thought that Bladee's influence on groups such as 100 gecs is shown on "DNA Rain", a song that has a glitchy and "angelic" sound.[6] On "Open Symbols (Play) Be in Your Mind", Exeter's seventh track, Bladee emphasizes the line "I'm not special".[6] Ecco2K appears again on the penultimate "Lovestory",[6] a track that was compared to Björk by Anthony Fantano.[14] Fantano also said that it contains "wonderous and gorgeous music box synths"[15] and "minimal and malformed bass and drums".[16] The closing track "Imaginary" has inharmonious keyboard notes.[9]
Dandridge-Lemco wrote that Exeter is the "sort of album that rewards you the closer you lean into it" in a positive review for Pitchfork.[6] For laut.de, Gölz thought that once you settled into the album, it becomes addictive.[9] Fantano enjoyed the album's production and thought that it was imaginative, but felt that a lot of aspects of the album could've been improved.[20] Both Dandridge-Lemco and Gölz both believed that Exeter wouldn't entice new listeners into Bladee's music.[6][9] Gölz said that it is "Drain Gang sound for advanced listeners".[9]
