On Fauxllennium, legendary vaporwave artist George Clanton and indie pop group TV Girl team up, creating a fun, relaxed, and atmospheric record that is soaked in reverb-drenched nostalgia.
The record opens with the track “Summer 2000 Baby” featuring bouncy pianos, a danceable drum beat, and sampled vocals layered throughout the track. The song with its euphoric atmosphere, feels like it was taken right off a Happy Mondays album. The song is a continuation of the sounds explored by George Clanton on Ooh Rap I Ya with its baggy-influenced beat. Like the title suggests, the song relishes in nostalgia, emitting the carelessness of youth.
“Everything Blue,” the second song off the album, dials back the dancy aspects of “Summer 2000 Baby” opting for a trip-hop atmosphere with TV Girl’s vocal samples. George Clanton’s vocals are soaked in reverb as he delivers them in a very laid-back tone. The track feels like lying down in the grass on the sunniest day of the year.
The title track “Fauxllennium” features signature synths from George Clanton, squelching and oozing across the sonic landscape. The simple hook is so infectious and catchy, combining perfectly with the eerie whistle sound in the back of the mix and entrancing the listener.
On “Butterflies” Clanton and TV Girl bring up the energy again, delivering a dance-pop track with a guest appearance from singer Jordana. The track steams ahead at full speed with catchy melodies and shimmering synths.
The layered and dense psychedelic instrumentals are mirrored by the lyrics discussing drugs, love, nostalgia, and partying. The song “Take a Trip” makes its message clear with a vocal sample rapping “Take a trip down memory lane,” followed by Clanton singing “Take a trip inside your mind.” TV Girl’s vocal samples mixed with Clanton’s vaporwave-influenced production combine with the lyrics to produce songs that evoke so much nostalgia and psychedelia, releasing memories that were seemingly forgotten.
While it does open strong, the record is somewhat front-loaded, as the last couple tracks are somewhat forgettable. The song “The Sweet Life” is drowning in so much reverb that it just floats through the listeners ears with little to cling onto. On the closer, “Yesterday’s World,” there is a vocal sample that repeats itself to the point it becomes grating on the ear.
It also feels like TV Girl had limited contributions to the production besides their traditional vocal samples of the album, as the record mostly sounds like a continuation of the sounds Clanton explored on his previous record, Ooh Rap I Ya. While this doesn’t make the record any less good, it just doesn’t feel like a collab, but rather a George Clanton album featuring TV Girl.
Fauxllennium, despite some forgettable tracks, brings forth fun, psychedelic, and danceable tracks that provide the perfect soundtrack for the summer.
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