Review Summary: Harps, toy pianos, and rain sticks go R&B for something unmistakably unique.
Wedding Bells is the definition of a crossover release. Magnus August Hoiberg released his first EP, Mirror Maru, a subtler piece that sounded much more like a sadbois Flying Lotus, and 3 years later, in 2015, he's producing/teaming/touring with R&B mainstays like Ariana Grande, Tinashe and Usher. In between the two, this came out. It captures the seemingly unnatural midpoint between those two styles so well that it's honestly pretty amazing it isn't a well-explored genre already. This isn't a mind-blowing release, but it's a confusing one - you're not going to have a reaffirmation on your life, and you're not going to become an instant fan for the instrumentation, but you're going to wonder "why didn't somebody do this already?" He takes Hemsworth's cloudy attempts at tying together the experimental electronic scene and the contemporary R&B scene, subtracts most of the reliance on the overtly obvious "sad-but-not-really" aesthetic/PR campaign, and adds a heaping tablespoon of alien to make something that fringes on the avant-garde with a much more positive, poppier attitude.
The mood is something else. Cashmere stirs together the propulsion of a sweaty, slightly awkward dance floor with the spontanaeity and general composure of a relaxed night with friends. You can dance to it, but you'd look pretty stupid. You can just sit and listen, but you'd be hardpressed not to tap your feet. This music is made for mid-volume listening, jamming to alone in an empty room, and relatively insignifcant movements of the head, hands, and feet. It's something that won't propel you, but instead gently catches you in it's groove. "Gently" is the keyword here - the song structure is more reminiscent of popular current/more than slightly stale EDM than anything else (which, combined with a heavy dose of internet savvy, is probably the main reason such an odd artist has such a relatively large fanbase) - but the styling is, instead of the typical maximalist/minimalist anger and, dare I say it, "masculinity", fluffy, twinkling and sweet. The most obvious "drop" on the album is a loud bell solo in "Pearls." Listening to it come to fruition for the first time (and the few next listens) is like bracing yourself for a needle and getting a kiss instead. Striking moments like these abound through Wedding Bells, and they're all the better for it. Harps, whistles, flutes, triangles - you know, all instruments that largely get ignored in popular music - strike with a half-hearted smile, not a vengeance. Where most producers, one way or another, use some sort of drop, Cashmere uses his signature droplet. Clicks, locks and ticks replace the 808 as signature percussion. Radio static and almost Eno-esque gleam detail the gorgeous hand-made melody of pitched vocals, which occasionally skirt the PC Music-esque uncanny valley cliff side. Familiarly human hip-hop staples, like yells and thumps, are present, but muffled significantly, for a dramatically different, but of course similar, effect to more "normal" music. It's not different for the sake of difference, it's just a more beautiful, twisted version of the norm. Tropes about EDM, pop and hip-hop are put in their place as Cashmere uses tildes instead of exclamation points, pseudo-natural window sunlight with a pretty filter instead of the justifiedly stereotypical abrasive neon lightbulbs.
The EP's main flaw is it's lack of development. Each track is gorgeous, clearly painstakingly produced, but none of them really flow inside of each other outside of aesthetic - that is, nothing really new happens, besides the overall novelty and excitement of the sound, to keep the excitement going. After the sheer amazement runs off to hide in your next new listen, it doesn't have much staying power. I'd be interested to see what Magnus could produce if he took a slightly more minimalistic approach (especially considering "Wolves," his new, subtler collaboration with Kanye West) or at least tracks that took a little more time to reveal their flourishes, rather than bringing them all out within the first half of the song. The entire length is only about 15 minutes long, he definitely could have extended that time quite a bit without dragging on. But that's a relatively minor complaint. Despite the flaws, Wedding Bells is a slightly brilliant, entirely cohesive, innovative, peppy, gorgeous EP. This is the kind of release that defines an artist, looks forward, and won't be forgotten.
