Although it’s an often pretty and sometimes captivating album, the songs feel aimless. The album opens with “Did You Hear?”, a plodding, tuneless beast with some interesting distorted toms and feedback but an overabundance of languid strummed guitar.
“Birdstatic,” on the other hand, might as well be a Boards of Canada tribute — warm synth pads swell behind a simple plucked guitar line. It works well initially, but the track never goes anywhere.
In fact, that is a common problem with the songs on Anywhere Out of the Everything — even when the songs change frequently, they still manage to feel stuck in place. Something feels like it is missing. It isn’t vocals — “Ugly Knees” proves that those aren’t doing any favors, either.
The near-constant downtempo feel of this album makes it difficult to hear from start to finish. Many of these tracks are very pretty, and some are deeply captivating (like the jungle-inspired “Faces All Melted”), but it’s hard to listen to these lengthy tracks and not feel frustrated. Anywhere Out of the Everything fails to build a captivating atmosphere that would excuse its lack of destination.
– Patrick Hajduch
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