Staking their claim as the most exciting, refreshing and unique band in the last few years, Superorganism are so good that when they first turned up with ‘Something For Your M.I.N.D.’ critics and audiences thought it could have been a new project by creative powerhouses such as Damon Albarn or Kevin Parker. Instead the eight-piece band are a vast array of international musicians that met each other on the internet and, incredibly, decided to move into an enormous East London house together to make music. Talk about living the dream. Like the most hipster squat ever, this is where their debut album, Superorganism, was conceived, produced and finished.

Self-produced, and in a very quick amount of time, it’s really quite impressive just how good their eponymous album is. Superorganism is an exceptionally self-assured debut record that is brimming with an impressive fun factor, a kaleidoscopic anarchism, barmy sounds and baffling visuals, which, all together, works its way to being one of the most mainstream world music albums in a long while. With boundary pushing artists such as Devo, Beck and The Avalanches cited as influences, it’s no surprise that Superorganism’s music exhibits the remarkable world building – as well as an exciting, and hopelessly addictive, audiovisual imagination – of these artists and more.

Opening track ‘It’s All Good’ kicks things off with an exciting burst of positivity. Carrying a dilapidation of bass quivers, on top of Japanese singer Orono’s sweet and light-hearted lead vocals, it boldly throws two fingers up at the bad vibes, as positivity prevails. Indeed, the entire record works better as a pick-me-up than a few coffee shots before 8am. Not only that, but the use of: “Good Morning” at the beginning makes it almost the perfect album to wake up to. The follow-up, the outrageously catchy, robotic vocal-lead, ‘Everybody Wants to Be Famous’ continues the good vibes with its mix of 90s American pop and J-pop. There’s an addictive nature to the song, and much of the album, as if it’s actually made of sugar. The hooks, melodies and sumptuous vocals make for a sugary 30-minute burst, and an immense amount of fun. Outside of Gorillaz, there’s not much like it.

Throughout the record there’s a myriad of wacky noises that really make Superorganism feel like its own universe. From ‘Everybody Wants to Be Famous’ with its clinking of cash registers, to ‘Something for Your M.I.N.D.’s spongy sample-pop, it very much feels like a world that has been created, but, crucially, it also feels like something of substance. Take ‘Reflections on the Screen’, for example. It showcases a darker side of the pop spectrum that we’ve not seen from the band yet, with a more downbeat song, focusing on the gloomier side of always being on the internet and the effects it can have on your mental health.

Superorganism’s debut album is everything you expect it to be. Since the first listen to ‘Something on Your M.I.N.D.’ back in the spring of 2017, Superorganism have defied expectations and they’ve continued that trend with their record. This is all encapsulated by the concluding song on the album – and by far the best – ‘Night Time’. Its hip, fashionable and unconventional flow is paired with glossy 90s pop-style drums, which offers up more choice synths, poptastic guitar lines and more 8-bit video game effects than we’ve seen from the band yet – and that’s saying something. Superorganism is a breath of fresh air, and an utter delight.

Liam McMillen

Website: wearesuperorganism.com
Facebook: facebook.com/SPRORGNSM
Twitter: twitter.com/SPRORGNSM