ALBUM REVIEW: Knife Party – Abandon Ship

Rating:

First, an admittance. I am a huge Knife Party fan. I have followed the duo since the inception of Pendulum and all the way through their current stint as Knife Party. Their previous two EPs have been phenomenal and have produced classics such as ‘Bonfire’, ‘Internet Friends’ and ‘Centipede’. So naturally I approached their new album, Abandon Ship (and this is officially a full album now – 12 songs instead of 4) with a large amount of optimism.

Abandon Ship explores a lot of differing genres, much like Skrillex’s latest work. You can tell there is a shift towards the more commercially acceptable EDM style, but at the same time there are still massive levels of bass on display with tracks such as ‘Give it Up’. Some of the tracks here are going to be killers on the dance floor. There’s sing-a-long numbers and others that appeal to the forever-expanding “bass two” stepping community. Overall it is a very enjoyable album. Despite not personally being a fan of the EDM genre, the fact that they are expanding into it is admirable. The predictable onslaught of people who will degrade the duo and brand them as sell-outs is inevitable. But when you are as big and successful as Knife Party have become, why not try new avenues and expand your music to a wider audience? These days, if the band were to produce an album predominantly focused on one genre it would be unlikely to do well. Variety is desirable to the worldwide audience and I, for one, encourage it.

Subtle cultural references are placed throughout the album, whether it’s Family Guy quotes, or the song ‘404’, which jokes about computing errors. This is a well-produced first outing for Knife Party into the realm of full-album aficionados, and it’s highly recommendable to a fan of any variation of dance music.

Take a listen to the full album on the Soundcloud stream below and you can purchase from their website.

Oliver Hope

@Hope72420

Oliver Hope
Oliver. Twenty Two year old gigaholic. Currently living in Manchester. Master's qualified journalist.
Oliver Hope

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