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Sep 4, 2024The results are sprawling, messy, and overly sincere, but they also perfectly capture the transcendent feeling Robinson spoke of when writing about “Get Your Wish.” Smile! :D is written to share and celebrate that feeling, offering the chance to revel in the joy, complexity, and humanity that pop music represents.
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Jul 29, 2024Ironically, in trying to make “fun” pop music, Robinson wound up making the sincerest album of his career.
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Jul 26, 2024Smile is messy – but so is the existence that Robinson writes about. At times, that makes the album feel unguided. But mostly, this is the first Porter Robinson album that feels entirely like him. That makes for one of the most compelling pieces of art he has ever released.
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Jul 26, 2024It’s Robinson’s most intimate album yet.
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Jul 26, 2024This new album operates in the opposite direction [of 2021's Nurture], with his vocals and lyrics leading his explosive pop production towards a creative breakthrough.
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Jul 26, 2024He’s willing to be chaotic and a little all over the place, and though that does occasionally result in moments that are hard to process, Robinson proves that he’s as adept at wringing moving moments out of pop tropes as he is conjuring alien worlds.
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Jul 29, 2024‘SMILE! :D’ is a personal album with nostalgic sounds and is more chaotic than cohesive, which seems intentional in order to reflect Porter’s ranging emotions. This cathartic album is some of his best work yet.
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Aug 2, 2024SMILE! :D was clearly created with the intention of dealing with sharply conflicting emotions, but it still ends up being more uneven than expected, and it's just not as successful as Nurture.
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Jul 26, 2024Smile! :D is a weird album. It’s equal parts disappointing and enjoyable: it’s a good time if you don’t pay too much attention and zone out every once in a while. Most of all, it’s a failed experiment.