I rarely sit this long on records before reviewing them but this one was kind of a rare exception. It’s been some good months since Frosting was released. The reason I did this was my love for Bent Knee’s music. My first contact with the Frosting, on the day of its release, was like going to a Michelin star restaurant, ordering a random dish off the menu, tasting it, and just pushing the plate away with visible distaste. I didn’t like that feeling. I wanted to stick around and see if the feeling will subside or transmute. Having certain expectations certainly did not help in this situation.
I think that I’m now as ready as I’ll ever be to honestly continue talking about this album. Firstly, I don’t really have any kind of relationship with pop music. I have a general apathy towards most of the bands that represent the genre and very few things pique my interest. I was told it has something to do with ‘tastes’ and ‘individuality’. I think it’s fine. So, in light of this, it was hard for me to dive properly into Frosting, given that it’s heavily based on a lot of things you’ll hear in modern pop music.
I talked with a lot of fervor about You Know What They Mean a couple of years ago, as it was quite the return to form I expected after, Say So and Land Animal, given my incessant obsession for Shiny Eyed Babies. In a somewhat similar way Frosting is another “return to form”, albeit it doesn’t so much as return to anything, as it takes the foundation of the band into a stylistically mainstream kind of direction while retaining all the band’s charm.
There’s no shortage of amazing moments, incredibly catchy tunes, wild experimentation, and generally, speaking the huge mood and atmosphere the band is able to create. It’s still Bent Knee, staying true to their ever-shifting nature and retaining that all too human characteristic that we change as time passes.
What I did not expect to enjoy this much, however, after a dozen or so of my first listens, was the hyper-pop influence. It came rushing as something wild, refreshing, vibrantly colorful, and expansive. The high-octane punch of it all really works well with the densely ornate arrangements. I was eventually totally smitten with the songs like “Casper” and “Baby in the Bush” in this sense.
The one thing I really can’t get over though is the heavy use of pitch correction for vocal lines in certain parts, like on “Invest in Breakfast” or “Queer Gods” for example. It’s a flavor that I just can’t seem to get behind, regardless how it’s applied and in what context. On the other hand, choruses couldn’t be any catchier and sweeter, especially the ones in “Have it All” and “Fighting All My Life”. Speaking of, I was particularly surprised with how neatly that trap element from “Have it All” was dialed in throughout the song.
On my very first listen, while I was still reeling from the shock of this odd new stylistic blend, I was immediately reminded that I’m listening to Bent Knee as soon as “The Upward Spiral” kicked in and took me for a ride, as well as its follow-ups “Set It Off” and “Pause”. They have a more, let’s say, dark and aggressive tone, which hearkens to some of their moments like the ending to “Sunshine”.
It’s quite simply their lovely way of creating contrast and showing how they can explore disparate ends so organically. It’s the kind of eclecticism in music which I live for. “Rib Woman” and “Ermine” also tend to follow a similar theme as the aforementioned tracks. I would also like to give “OMG” a shoutout right about now for being so weirdly infections and as if torn from some glitched out sci-fi soap opera.
You can’t have a Bent Knee record without being left slack-jawed and in perpetual awe throughout its entire run. When I arrived at “The Floor is Lava” I had to check my player didn’t somehow skip to a different artist entirely. It has a beautifully serene and soothing vibe stretched all over, making a very nice callback to what you would’ve heard at this point in the record on Shiny Eyed Babies, or something Steve Vai would’ve done in the mid 00’s for that matter.
The album closer became eventually one of my absolute favorite Bent Knee songs. It’s a cool reminder at the end of the journey as to why I fell in love with this music in the first place. “Not this Time” really tickles all the right feels in all the right ways and it’s heartwarming.
While I’m disappointed by the recent news that Ben Levin and Jessica Kion will be leaving the band and continuing with other endeavors, I rest assured that Bent Knee in its new/partial incarnation will continue to make amazing things even so and I stand with a similar assurance towards Kion and Levin. In that same breath I hope to see with this occasion more collaborations between Adam Neely and Ben Levin, whether it’s videos or music, they’re a great match in terms of energy and everything.
As I eagerly wait for new Bent Knee (already!) I am more than content with their latest musical offering and I definitely recommend that you all give it at least a spin, especially if you’ve never had contact with the band!
