Primal Scream – Chaosmosis (First International, 2016)
Following a pattern that’s become tragically predictable, Scotland’s Primal Scream have followed up one of their most interesting detours (2013’s neo-psychedelic More Light) with something inherently misguided: the synthpop found on Chaosmosis, their 11th record. Singer and founding member Bobby Gillespie ambles through each track, putting on his best New Order, The Human League and Duran Duran impressions to no avail. Gillespie simply sounds mismatched, the material ill-suited for his relaxed voice or his blunt lyrics; “Where the Light Gets In,” an embarrassingly garish duet with Sky Ferreira, illustrates this perfectly. “Golden Rope” provides a brief reprieve, though it does little to validate the band’s jarring experiment. Primal Scream do deserve kudos for continuously switching their approach from album to album. Chaosmosis, however, serves as further proof in regards to where Gillespie’s strengths lie: the psychedelic, not the generic.
Trial Track: “Golden Rope”
4/10
