Hailing from rural New Zealand and now based in Melbourne, the man known as Opiuo makes whooping electronic anthems informed by funk, disco, hip hop, and glitch. It’s catchy and at times fun, but it’s frustrating how much this album plays it safe. While specific influences come and go, the formula is limited to narrow repetition, chopped samples, and the kind of ascending synths that telegraph the least grade of change well ahead of time. Even a decent snap to the beats and a knack for squishy melodies can’ provide an exit from such a rut.
Call it lack of imagination: award-winning Kiwi songwriter Jess Chambers guests on “Off Chops’, but only to supply floating vocal harmonies on a track that would rather commence with a sample announcing, “Flight attendants, please prepare for takeoff.†The producer Albino, with whom Opiuo makes music as Sunmonx, guests on the nicely submerged “Brain Blow’, but the seven-minute “Water Mouth’ sees their collaboration yield cheesy guitar sampling and an unwise nod to reggae. There are certainly enjoyable moments to be had – “Tender Wrinkle’ is a bit like early Daft Punk, and other songs work if you switch off your brain – but each track is achingly similar and way outsized. Some true diversity and especially subtlety would go a long way here.
Doug Wallen
