Maribou State - Hallucinating Love
The latest album from the UK group feels like a nostalgic summer playlist during midwinter. The only problem is it is the only thing the record can offer.
What is your favourite time of year? For Maribou State, it’s obviously summer – the warmest, sunniest and probably most loving season. The duo’s new album, Hallucinating Love, visualises all your brightest memories, offering up feel-good material alike Khruangbin, with chilled guitars and light dancehall sound.
As a whole, the longplay has a pleasing, warm sound with some masterful sample work and well-chosen guest appearances. Holly Walker appears twice, on “Otherside” and “Peace Talk,” and her soft, soothing vocals fit the tone of the album perfectly. There’s a choir on several songs, which exposes one of the album’s themes: music should bring people together, and this is a record that’s made to be played at parties and dinners with friends.
The most enjoyable moment of the album is its run of the last three tracks: Passing Cloud – Eko’s – Rolling Stone. It all starts with a pleasant piano interlude, then moves into, perhaps, the most rhythmic composition on the project with the highest number of BPM and, finally, ends on a beautiful, nostalgic note: the last track on the album sounds as if you are riding around the city on a bus and looking out the window at your favourite places, filled with stories from the past.
Unfortunately, Hallucinating Love is not a flawless record: despite the fact that it sounds quite consistent, there is still a feeling of some incompleteness. Some songs have good potential to be something bigger and start off quite excitingly, but by the end it feels like many ideas were not fully developed and this material feels undercooked.
You may hear this album playing in the background while drinking your favorite beer in an open-air bar or from the open doors of a coffee shop while walking around the city on the sunset. But will it remain in your mind as strongly as the summer memories?
6.6/10
Released by Ninja Tune, and thanks to their team for the early access!