It didn't take me long to punch "Reborn by Kavinsky" into the comment box considering how much I've been screaming about it online this past year or so. The one way I could describe its impact on me is that it gave me a positive mental breakdown. This review may come across more like a fangirling session rather than an unbiased perspective. Apologies in advance.
Why did it take me over a year to write a review about it? Because life happens, hyperfixations take over and my neurodivergent brain did not want to sit and focus. But I was given a space at the lovely Attenborough Arts Centre once again, where for the first time I listened to this album from start to finish on full blast. That helped my brain concentrate for sure.
With Kavinsky's unfortunate passing in July earlier this year, listening to his music knowing Reborn would be his last album was certainly upsetting. All the more reason I feel the need to spotlight it here.
Beginning with "Pulsar", a piece with dreamy synths, heavy echoing beats Kavinsky brings us back into his world, back to where Outrun left off with a new story to tell. Starting and ending with a pounding heartbeat, the Dead Cruiser is back.
"Reborn" is something quite new and refreshing to hear from Kavinsky, with uplifting and hopeful ethereal vocals by Romuald and light echoey synths. "I used to call you at night" is an endearing call back to "Nightcall". A new feeling, a fresh start yet paying homage to the sounds of the 80s.
The story continues with "Renegade" and heavy beats and gritty bass complement the higher vocal range. "Trigger" is where the heaviness is maintained and the orchestral layers bring the cinematic edge to it. Chords pound, strings take up space alongside the drums."Goodbye" takes a slightly more acoustic approach with a haunting piano and melancholic drone under Sébastian Tellier's lamenting vocals.
Now I already adore the soundtracks from the Tron franchise but when I tell you I need "Plasma" to be an end credits song to a Tron movie I am not messing around. Featuring Morgan Phalen, this track has a groovy electric guitar and a charging drum beat.
In all honesty "Cameo" was a grower. Wasn't super keen at first compared to the other tracks but the more I listened the catchier it got thanks to Kareen Lomax's crisp vocals. The follow-up to the infamous "Nightcall" brings "Zenith" which despite its name doesn't necessarily top "Nightcall" but pays homage to it, with its chilling vocals, sharp synths and some sax to sprinkle in some blues. It's definitely (another) one for a cold and rainy night driving in the city.
"Vigilante" while not the shortest duration of the album, certainly feels like a short but sweet visit. While lyrics are driving the (potential) narrative along, we're met with distortion and syllabic mechanical vocals. One I've personally added to my Halloween playlist, "Zombie" is so addictive and upbeat and almost a hyper-surreal experience of an 80s horror movie. Theatrical zombie-like sounds found their way into this piece that doesn't take itself too seriously, which is what I find so endearing about it. All it needs now is an eccentric music video.
Although "Outsider" is the penultimate track, it's certainly the most bombastic of the bunch. It's like Kavinsky threw everything at it except vocals (it didn't need them). It starts rather unassuming with a creeping piano and turns into a head bopping party, inviting the strings back in for one final showstopper.
To give the listener space to process everything they've just heard, "Horizon" winds down the atmosphere. It's just the synths, the robotic yet vulnerable voice and your thoughts. The Dead Cruiser likes a quiet and humble exit it seems.
At the end of it all it was interesting to see other's takes on what we've listened to. Someone said that it reminded them of Stranger Things and Daft Punk, while another said that it was only at "Cameo" where they felt they'd fully settled into the album. I find it weirdly poetic that I once owned the CD of this album, however I accidentally left it in the system of my now scrapped car (of course not a red Testarossa like the Dead Cruiser's).
To know that we won't hear any more music from Kavinsky again is not easy to wrap my head around, but that doesn't mean I'll stop appreciating what he's left behind.
