2010 must have been the year chillwave hibernated. Neon Indian toured, didn’t release very many (if any new songs). Instead, he just put out videos for pre-existing songs. People felt a certain amount of teasing, as he was just solidifying his position as one of the two highly respected chillwavers (the other being ‘Washed Out’). “Psychic Chasms” got instant ‘Best New Music’ on Pitchfork. No other chillwave artist managed to pull that off in their first go, even Washed Out got only an 8.0 on his first EP.
Things have changed since the halcyon days of 2009. Since that time, a great deal of sub-par chillwave has entered the music stream, tainting its good, nostalgic name. Other chillwave bands have evolved, moved past the original sound. For Toro Y Moi, that meant a longer, better received second album. Ducktails had a second, less well-received album, getting only a 6.7, meaning Pitchfork was ‘hedging its bets’ on it still remaining a band which could obtain buzz.
What could Neon Indian do with his time, as he worked diligently on his second album? Alan Palomo lost a guitarist and gained “Flaming Lips” collaboration. By working with Wayne, he proved he will be the most profitable chillwave entity. Losing a guitarist didn’t hurt too much as Neon Indian has been mostly a singular affair. Guitarists are everywhere; though that guitarist’s funky outfits will be missed at live shows. I know I’ll miss them.
Finland proved to be the place where he re-discovered his chill. Since it is in Scandinavia, it embodies the essence of chill. The welfare state the Finns have created, along with being the only country to repay all of its World War II debt to the US makes it a pretty chill place, perfect for Neon Indian. He needed to see how to make his second album even better than the first, as his popularity had only increased since his first album. Some magazines even called his 2009 released album “the album of 2010” which felt other-worldly to him.
Now he’s come out with some teaser trailer for “Heart Attack” part of a 3-part instrumental trilogy on his new album. That means the new album will be longer than the first, as previous outings have shown us, longer album means ‘maturing’ and shorter albums mean ‘running on empty’. So he has that part of the system down pat. Listening to the first track from it, it sounds fantastic, exactly what you’d expect from Neon Indian, completely amazing synthesizer and great beats. Hopefully he’ll keep that up for most of the album.
I’ve seen him live a couple of times. Not once have I been upset or disappointed. By now, he’s gotten down the live show, a difficult thing for his kind of music. He’s also stated the new album will drop in early fall. Since his last album leaked so early, I’m assuming we’ll get it by around July/August area. Perhaps we’ll also get some sort of EP like we did for the last one, so people can get used to the major points of the album before he goes out with the whole thing. This last part I’m not so certain about, he’s maintained twitter silence for great periods of time, perhaps he wants to ‘shock and awe’ the audience.
Actually, when I heard the first song off of his early EP “Deadbeat Summer” I remember sending to virtually everyone I knew who was interested in music. Each one loved it. I kept those sent Facebook messages for a long time, to remind me that sometimes hype rewards a band deserving of the attention. Of course, I kept those messages out of the music nerd habit of saying “I called it” when you learned of a band way before everyone else. As most people aren’t music nerds, when you meet a real music nerd, it is the equivalent of a secret handshake.
Neon Indian appear to be a more responsible affair, at least avoiding some of the negative aspects of celebrity, public break-downs and drug abuse being the most common problems. Though apparently the Antlers tweeted their rehearsal with him was a nightmare and they should not have taken acid with him. Considering the bleak nature of the Antlers music, it might have to do more with their perception than Alan’s behavior.
Honestly, I haven’t been this excited for a release in a while. Most of 2011 has gone by with a few decent albums. I want something beautiful. Neon Indian might have that album.
