Amon Tobin — How Do You Live
Multi-genre artist Amon Tobin returns to his own Nomark label with his latest foray into electronica, How Do You Live. Stepping off from some of his more recent projects FIGEROA and STONE GIANTS, Amon has used his newer influences greatly to flesh out his newest solo album. Electronic but still based in rock and pop structures, How Do You Live is a treat for the senses and an energetic ride through your speakers.
A hefty ten tracks deep, How Do You Live chugs forth with a cinematic, cyberpunk aesthetic, all while remaining fully grounded in the classic structures of modern music. Like an aura extending out from the album in each direction, Amon moves forward, backward, and sideways through time and influence, drawing each into his sound. Using elements of classic psych and folk, mixing it in with electronica, and slapping it on a rock/pop frame, his latest feels very comfortable and familiar, and at the same time fresh and new. This is a fantastic approach and not easy to pull off. The intermingling of sounds, styles, and influence can get away from an artist and become an unwieldy sum of its parts. In his more than 25 years of constructing sonic treasures, Tobin has become well aware of the limits that songs need to stay focused as well as the loopholes they can use to grow far bigger than their cages. How Do You Live mixes darker, depressive elements well with brighter, lighter tones and creates an intriguing and well thought out compromise perfectly in the Goldilocks Zone. Construction by averaging allows the sound to hit the surrounding highs & lows while leaving the focus on the sweet spot. Those that shoot straight for that sound often have their sound limited or have their attempt at richness added on after. Tobin's approach is organic and one can almost see the layers pouring out from his head and hands.
Celebrated producer Amon Tobin's latest, How Do You Live revels in both experimentalism and traditionalism, not only expanding them, but also bringing them together. Allowing his ingenuity to flow alongside the tones and their own directions, the sounds produced are natural, despite their obvious synthesis. Ten well thought out, well-played tracks, How Do You Live is a wonderful listen that improves with each successive spin.