Worlds (Porter Robinson album)
Worlds is the debut studio album by the American electronic music producer Porter Robinson, released on August 12, 2014, by Astralwerks. Initially known for his heavier bass-centric production, Robinson became increasingly dissatisfied with the electronic dance music genre, believing it limited his artistic expression. In 2012, Robinson released his first song with a greater emphasis on melody, "Language", and decided thereafter to prioritize aesthetic and emotional qualities in his work. He was inspired by media that evoked nostalgia for his childhood, and wrote music integrating elements taken from anime, films, and sounds from 1990s video games.
Robinson's primary inspirations for Worlds were Daft Punk's Discovery and Kanye West's Graduation. Critics described the work as electropop, noting similarities to the styles of M83 and Passion Pit. In late 2013, a bidding war broke out among record labels over which of them would release the record. The album was preceded by four singles: "Sea of Voices", "Sad Machine", "Lionhearted", and "Flicker", and promoted with a tour in North America and Europe.
Worlds was well received by most critics, who praised it as innovative and forecasted a promising career for Robinson, though others felt the record lacked coherence or was unexciting. Retrospectively, the album was noted for its impact on the EDM scene. It charted in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Netherlands. Following Worlds positive reception, Robinson felt pressured to write an appropriate follow-up work. As a result, he experienced a period of writer's block and depression, leading to the seven-year gap until his next studio album, Nurture.
Background and development
was initially known for his electro and complextro music, such as the 2010 single "Say My Name" and the 2011 extended play Spitfire; Robinson described his initial sound as "very heavy" and "bass-aggressive". "Say My Name" topped Beatport's electro house chart, while Spitfire caused the website to crash after being promoted by Skrillex and Tiësto.Across 2012, Robinson performed at major electronic dance music festivals, but gradually became dissatisfied with the genre. He mentioned having four or five intense anxiety attacks that year while performing, at one point shouting that "dance music is terrible" during a show. Robinson came to believe that the genre limited his expression; in an interview with NME, he said " is entertainment, it's not really art". Robinson felt that by attempting to add DJ-friendly and dance-oriented features to his music, he frequently compromised and diminished the quality of his songs.
Robinson conceived the idea for Worlds in 2012 following the release of "Language", his first song to have a greater emphasis on melody. Although it was a departure from his earlier sound, "Language" was accepted by audiences, surprising Robinson. As a result, he decided to prioritize "beauty" and "emotion" in his music, which became his first principles for Worlds. He also considered it necessary to be "sincere" and "honest". Rather than creating club-oriented music, he chose to produce the music he wanted to hear and believed should exist. In 2013, he released "Easy" with Mat Zo, which Andy Kellman of AllMusic characterized as one of the standout commercial dance singles of the year.
Robinson moved to his parents' home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and spent a year revisiting soundtracks of Nintendo 64 video games from the 1990s and 2000s. Robinson produced the album in FL Studio, and wrote around 50 tracks for the album, which were later narrowed to 12 on the final tracklist. In a May 2013 interview, Robinson said he had set July as the deadline to finish the album, and that the title still had not been chosen. When Robinson signed with Astralwerks in November 2013, the album was nearly complete. Robinson collaborated with Spanish illustrator David Aguado to create the album's artwork and design.
Composition
Robinson was inspired by themes of fantasy, escapism, fiction, and nostalgia; he said that Worlds is not associated with, nor has a place in, reality. Robinson incorporated elements from video games, anime, and movies. His experiences with massively multiplayer online role-playing games and associated nostalgia were an influence. He admired the worlds these games – Star Wars Galaxies in particular – provided and was affected by how dwindling player bases and bankruptcies eventually brought them offline. These themes influenced Robinson to title the album Worlds.Robinson used General MIDI sounds that resembled the music of Nintendo 64 and PlayStation video games, including those he played while growing up in the 1990s, such as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which evoked childhood nostalgia for Robinson. By emulating the "slight sad vibe" of the stories that inspired him, Robinson wanted to give the album a retrospective and emotional atmosphere. Daft Punk's Discovery, an album Robinson considers the best of all time, was his biggest influence for the record, with Kanye West's Graduation in second. Multiple critics wrote that the album's sound resembled M83 and Passion Pit.
Larry Fitzmaurice of Pitchfork said that Worlds is clearly electropop, and Megan Buerger of Billboard wrote that the album combines ambient, disco and electropop. Vice Elissa Stolman felt that several tracks on the album were inspired by new wave. While Robinson intended to stray from EDM, the album still kept some of its elements; some critics described the album's sound as "post-EDM". Sharon O'Connell of Uncut said that Robinson mixed EDM tropes and nu-rave with M83-like synth-pop and "bangers" by Daft Punk and Justice. Conversely, Buerger wrote that bass drops and dance-like rhythms were substituted by "delicate chord progressions and deep, forceful synths". Barry Walters of Wondering Sound wrote that, in contrast to the typically higher tempos of EDM, much of Worlds is at a lower, ballad-like speed.
Songs
Tracks 1–5
Worlds opens with "Divinity", which contains vocals by Canadian singer Amy Millan, from the bands Stars and Broken Social Scene. Robinson chose the track as the opener because it was the first he wrote with a slower tempo and more emotional chords, a style he considered representative of Worlds. Tatiana Cirisano of Billboard wrote that there is a large contrast between the intro and chorus; while the former contains "underwater-sounding", smooth vocals, the latter contains a "cacophony" of cymbals and glitch-like sounds reminiscent of video games. Barry Walters of Wondering Sound said that it features common characteristics of EDM, such as a powerful beat, dense layers of synthesizers, and an airy female vocal, while Elissa Stolman of Vice described the track as an indie-electronic "festival rave anthem", with synths that resembled M83's "Midnight City". Alternatively, Rupert Howe of Q found similarities to electronica and M83-like space rock.The next track, "Sad Machine", was the first song for which Robinson had recorded his own vocals. Describing it as a "duet between a lonely robot girl and the human boy", Robinson employed Avanna, a Vocaloid voice, as the song's lead singer. Larry Fitzmaurice of Pitchfork considered it one among other tracks on Worlds which resembled the "high-wire synth-pop fantasias" of Passion Pit, as it contained a mid-tempo instrumental and "starry-eyed melodic structure". Las Vegas Weekly Mike Prevatt identified inspirations from M83 and Sigur Rós. Lucas Villa of AXS described the track as "heroic and awe-inspiring" and felt that it evoked the "dreamier" elements of electronic music. The third song, "Years of War", features Breanne Düren of Owl City and Sean Caskey of Last Dinosaurs. Pursuing a "cutesy synth-pop thing", Robinson said it was the hardest he had ever worked on a song. It leans into electropop, synth-pop, and new wave. The song's main instrument is a trance synth, which Stolman felt contrasted with the song's retro elements, such as a boom-clap rhythm and "sepia-toned synths".
The song is followed by "Flicker", which Robinson considered one of his proudest moments on the album. The song begins with a calm disco beat reminiscent of old video games and a faint bassline building in the background. A female voice enters, speaking chopped-up Japanese phrases. Prevatt said that the song uses a classic hip hop breakbeat before the chorus, which he described as an "emotional payoff". Just after the two-minute mark, the song switches to a bass-heavy atmosphere, and Buerger comments that Robinson retains his "invitation to the party" in spite of the song's experimental elements. She described the song as the most dynamic on the album. Garrett Kamps of Spin identified melodic similarities with Boards of Canada. "Fresh Static Snow", the fifth track on the album, also uses Avanna. Robinson said that the song focuses on his feelings of loneliness and the idea of soulmates. Consequence of Sound Derek Staples found the song's "ethereal electro vibes" to be reminiscent of The Glitch Mob and The M Machine. Stolman described it as a "coiled, metallic guitar squall" which goes to "midrange bass grit" culminating in a heavenly breakdown with melancholy robotic vocals.
Tracks 6–12
The album's sixth track, "Polygon Dust", is a collaboration with Lemaitre, a band Robinson was fond of. Its main element is a trance synth. Stolman described the track as one of the safest of the album, containing natural vocals as opposed to "Sad Machine" and "Fresh Static Snow", as well as calmer synths. It is followed by "Hear the Bells", which features Imaginary Cities. It is based on one of the band's existing songs, "Bells of Cologne". Robinson felt that the song is where he sings with the greatest stage presence. Kamps thought the vocal choir was "fantastical and defiantly cheery", while Stolman wrote that the song contains Givers-like layered indie vocals and emotional lyrics. Fitzmaurice said that "Hear the Bells" has a good amount of "rocket fuel" due to its dynamic electronics and anthemic synthesizers."Natural Light", Worlds eighth track, is an interlude. Robinson enjoyed the track due to its intelligent dance music passages inspired by artists such as Aphex Twin and Venetian Snares. Stolman commented that, despite its driving bass, sharp drum hits, vocal fragments, and sparkling keys, the track could be called minimal in the context of the album. The ninth track is "Lionhearted", which features Urban Cone. It was one of the first tracks Robinson wrote for the album, describing it as "anthemic". Critics wrote that this was the album's first display of a faster tempo. Kamps described the sound as "exuberant pop" and Prevatt felt there were similarities to the styles of Holy Ghost! and Passion Pit. The next song, "Sea of Voices", went through multiple iterations before its release. It is a five-minute orchestral track that contain no drums in its first minutes, being only composed of synths reminiscent of atmospheric big room. Noting the late introduction of beats, Buerger said the track has "the emotions of a tear-jerking blockbuster". Kamps found the build-up similar to ones by Sigur Rós.
"Fellow Feeling" is Worlds penultimate track. In a criticism of EDM composition, Robinson starkly juxtaposed what he felt was "beautiful and serene" with aggressive and violent elements. Sharon O'Connell of Uncut felt that the opening section was reminiscent of chamber music, that was described by Villa as "cinematic" and Walters as "symphonic". Further into the song, a voice says, "Now, please, hear what I hear", and a strong bass enters. Walters claimed the track is interrupted by aggressive dubstep elements which O'Connell described as electro funk that had been chopped and screwed. Villa named it the album's most climactic moment. The final track, "Goodbye to a World", is the third to use Avanna. Robinson wanted the feeling of a "beautiful apocalypse" for the song. It has lullaby-like moments contrasted with sections that Staples found similar to breakcore and Stolman characterized as "fist-pumping brutality".