Throwback to the early years of the notorious, yet widely used, EDM scene, a young lad from Stockholm had just won a contest for his record, ‘Manman’, judged by none other than Pete Tong.
A slew of singles later, Tim Bergling better known as Avicii or sometimes Tom Hangs, was hotly tipped to take the world by storm with his music. Purely melodic, evocative and cohesive, Avicii’s sound was catching on to much of the urban youth, amidst the increasing success of his Swedish counterparts. ‘Levels’ became a household record, ‘Wake Me Up’ followed with equal fervor, and Avicii was pushing boundaries with his music as well as his live shows. ‘True’ was Avicii’s first sophomore effort, which was a stylish balance of the pop infused and main stage melodic trademark, Avicii is known for.
Cut to 2015, Avicii’s latest offering, a stellar yet immensely creative offering, Stories, is probably our favourite piece of music from the swede. Transitioning to a wide net of genres and styles, Avicii’s effort on Stories could well be characterized as an amalgamation of all the styles of music popularised over the years, creatively highlighting the EDM roots, he once came from.
Stories in many ways, perfectly blends Avicii’s penchant for melodies and swaying vocals, while capturing a new aura of the disco infused, folksy vibe from back in the day.
Opening with ‘Broken Arrows’, a delightful combination of smooth arps and a fresh vocal top line, it manages to break away from it’s characterization of progressive house in certain sections.
‘Waiting for Love’ is one of the only singles to side with its progressive house roots, in this EDM repellency. Co-produced with Dutch sensation Martin Garrix, the inputs are collaborative as clearly evident from their styles.
Avicii let a few singles out before the full album launch and ‘Pure Grinding’ and ‘For a Better Day’ were unleashed. Highly diversified in their own respects, to say the least, both records are synth dominated, vocal driven delights, that capture Avicii’s creativity with genres.
‘City Lights’ is probably our favourite from the album. ‘True’ fans can breath a sigh of relief, as City Lights is everything you’d expect an Avicii record to be. Craftily vocoded vocals, smooth chords and well arranged progressions is what Avicii does best.
From then on, be it the folksy ballad, ‘Ten More Days’ with Zak Abel or the reggae influenced ‘Can’t Catch Me’, every record could well be a betrayal to Avicii’s dance music roots. ‘Ten More Days’ is your feel good, drive along tune featuring absolutely scintillating vocals and a gorgeous chord progression.
‘Talk to Myself’ is Avicii’s rendition of disco and groovy house music, with the hard to ignore xylophone synths and jazzy fillers.
‘Gonna Love Ya’ brings back fond memories of the signature Avicii driving bassline and with lyrics that will have you singing along, repeatedly.
‘Trouble’ is a catchy acoustic number, blending crisp synths and we’ll thought piano breaks.
‘Sunset Jesus’ could well be characterized as rock influenced from its inception, but not before the classic Avicii progressive house builds in, also familiarly known from Avicii’s remix of his own tune, ‘Dear Boy’.
In conclusion, ‘Stories’ is far from consistent when it comes to genres and Avicii’s experimenting prowess does just enough justice to his legacy of fine progressive house, as well his that of the contemporary dance music, the world will soon hear of.
You can purchase your copy here.
