Porter Robinson - Nurture (Japanese Edition) (2021)

Porter Robinson had already moved beyond festival-ready EDM by the time Worlds, a full-length debut filled with widescreen electro-pop tunes inspired by anime and video games, arrived in 2014. After the album became a massive success, topping Billboard's Dance/Electronic Albums chart and influencing numerous producers, Robinson felt pressured to deliver another major statement that would live up to his reputation. He scored a gold-certified hit with "Shelter," his 2016 collaboration with Madeon, and following the duo's extensive international tour, he branched off with Virtual Self, a hyper-fun side project influenced by trance and Dance Dance Revolution, which surprisingly earned the producer his first Grammy nomination. Though fantasy, escapism, and technology remain key factors of Robinson's work -- he's also the curator of Secret Sky, an online music festival -- his long-delayed second album, Nurture, is easily his most introspective project. The lyrics are related to how he overcame extensive bouts of depression and writer's block during the making the album, and its sonic palette incorporates rippling pianos, lush acoustic guitars, and even wistful strings along with propulsive beats, neon synths, and glitchy effects. He switches between his own singing voice and androgynous Vocaloid software, balancing artifice and reality while maintaining a strong foundation of sincerity. Standout single "Musician" (which incorporates material from an unreleased collaboration with Kero Kero Bonito) triumphantly addresses overcoming creative burnout, and others like "Mirror" and "Something Comforting" (with its wistful "there must be/something wrong with me" chorus) are about self-criticism and searching inward for validation. In addition to these types of emotional pop epics, the record also sports some of Robinson's most thrilling experiments, from the playful, Shibuya-kei-inspired "do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do" to the cathartic glitchery of "dullscythe." With album conclusion "Trying to Feel Alive," Robinson isn't entirely sure if he's satisfied with his many accomplishments, but reaching a finish line might not be the point, so being able to live and create music turns out to be its own reward. ~ Paul Simpson