Review Summary: Anyone who knows of this record's existence should listen at least ONCE.
"Se Bueno" achieves something phenomenal; the unity of Breakcore and Shoegaze is not one to be overlooked, as I think this is potentially the best and most important underground album of 2023.
TURQUOISEDEATH is an artist who's name has been surfacing a lot as of recent, especially off the release of single Dive, featuring Parannoul AND Asian Glow. Building on that homage to the new age shoegaze scene, TURQUOISEDEATH released a whole album of it, yet it is varied, innovative and immaculately produced. Here is a track by track:
Eureka is the perfect intro for this record, at only 1:12 long it features a brief atmospheric round up of whats to come, with swelling synths and pianos wearing the Porter Robinson influence like a badge. The production here is easy to glance over but its liquid smooth pads feel just right around your ears! The second track, "The Sky Fell" is a visceral, energetic and most of all fun song, featuring fellow shoegazer "BrokenTeeth". With a flash, you will be thrown into a whirlpool of guitar and booming drum breaks at breakneck pace. The structuring of this track allows no time to breathe, but rather than that hurting the enjoyment of the record, it does the opposite, making for an experience of pure lightspeed excitement, and to top it all off with an incredible guitar solo played by BrokenTeeth, this song is one to behold in this album. Not to mention for an instrumental track, its goddamn catchy!
"Crawl Space" is a much less shoegazey cut, featuring Boards of Canada-esque drums and a progressive song progression, splitting very naturally into different sections with different drum styles, which at one point go bat*** in one of the best breakbeat breakdowns ever made. To close off with the angsty, glistening climax is the right move to make this song as memorable as it is. There's no getting past this track, and it leaves you wanting more of its hollow, liquid samples and beautiful melodies. But before you can blink, 5 minutes feels like 10 seconds and you are passed onto "Sinking Into You" with an amazingly natural transition. The birdsong helps welcome in a lovely strumming of guitar, which builds up with a nice drum beat, albeit maybe a bit to simple, but once we reach the first drop, the cascade of noise, guitar and angsty vocals make for a beautifully noisy and romantic moment, one which you will remember for a long time. As this song moves into its final phase, the Jane Remover influence starts to show in a aquatic trip hop section that helps to close off the track in a polished manner.
"Dive" was one of the most exciting singles of 2023, and when it released it lived up to expectations. TURQUOISEDEATH, Parannoul and Asian Glow all contributed equally to make a progressive fusion of indietronica and the classic style of noise rock the two collaborators usually release. The breakcore breakdown is absolutely phenomenal and though its abstract in nature, its incredibly memorable and a glistening cherry on top of a otherwise nice cake. "Guesabelle" is one of the longer cuts here. The beautiful pads swell up, building an atmosphere that glides the track unto its absolutely jawdropping, gobsmacking arpeggiated finale, one which stays in the mind forever.
Vertigo and Starfields both achieve equally fantastic climaxes too, in different ways. Starfields' progressive breakbeat structure allows for it to become an entrancing listen, where you feel focused on the song until the final wall of sound. The breakwork is here is some of the best on the album, being intricate like something Aphex Twin would produce nowadays. Vertigo is the complete opposite. It builds from a single guitar line and strum, with a slow rise of tension until the final moment, where a bloodcurdling scream ignites a firey finish to the song.
Escape Your Dream is a very subtle, different track to the rest of the record. It's darksynth influences, helped by featured artist Astrophysics create a dense, rich atmosphere. The final synth line is heartwrenching, and leaves the album on a beautiful note.
I believe Se Bueno is a great record that will be regarded as one of if not the best breakbeat album this year. Anyone who knows of it's existence should listen at least ONCE.
