I'm unsure of where to start, my thoughts on Caprisongs are mostly negative. Coming of the back of the remarkable Magdalene, these seventeen songs feel like a departure from concept, a pivot to the casual that get by with its most memorable contributions coming from other artists. I always want to hear artists try new things, not living in the shadow of what they have mastered but that is never a guarantee of success.
Of course, all of this is highly subjective. My impression of Caprisongs is a socially oriented album, a collection of personal moments. The records pacing is sprinkled with interludes, snippets of conversations with friends and no sense of urgency as many of the numbers take meandering avenues with sparse percussion to move it along with ease. The instrumentals are breezy unions of dreamy synths and snappy, creative drum grooves. Occasionally a little disjointed and experimental they mostly steer towards the safer, trendy modern sounds that are easy to get along with.
In the past I remember much of Twiggs's singing going to traverse interesting places, both individually and with the utility of studio manipulation. On this record however, much of that is void. Her tone and temperament is still charming. The high pitched singing is gorgeous but mostly its tame in comparison. Tame is a word I'd associate with many of this tracks. There isn't a lot of momentum or structure that doesn't dissipate the energy as its often dreamy nature has the music dropping out of moods its barely begun on. Perhaps my expectation are blinding whats on offer.
Either way, I've given it a fair try, after plenty of spins It just doesn't leave an impression. The two moments I most enjoyed most was the collaboration with The Weeknd. The two bounce of eachother well and the song has direction with its kick snare groove guiding us through. The other interesting moment was a recycling of classic 90s lyrics by Olive, "you're not alone, I'll wait till the end of time" on Darjeeling. That sent me down a Ministry Of Sound rabbit hole of memories, which was fun!
Rating: 4/10