“Flume” is the debut, self-titled studio album by Australian artist Flume, obviously, released in 2011. An electronic music producer, Flume specializes in the experimental, down-tempo, and trip hop genres.
“Flume” comes in two editions: the standard and the deluxe version, which I’ll be recommending to you this week.
Right off the bat, I will say that, while I love each track on “Flume”, some of the songs almost blend together and don’t stand out from one another, generally sticking to the same reverb-heavy drum kit and synth melodies. Notable exceptions would be “Holdin’ On”, “On Top”, “Left Alone”, and “Star Eyes” (all of which are my personal favorites on the album, and all of which have vocals).
While the standard version offers many chill, percussion-heavy tracks laden with deep, speaker rumbling bass lines, the deluxe version provides an extended track list: 33 songs as opposed to 15.
Going beyond the standard track list, the 18 extra songs are variations on tracks from the standard edition, including VIPs (variance in production) of songs such as “Insane”, “Change”, and one of my favorites, “Space Cadet.”
Also included is a 4 minute long “Intro”, featuring rap verses from guest artist Stalley.
Following the VIPs, there are 6 remixes of a few of the album’s songs, done by other artists, and 4 remixes done by Flume himself of other artists’ songs (“A Baru in New York” is an absolute godsend, definitely listen to that one first).
You might have never heard of Flume, or you might already be a big fan of him (like me). No matter the answer, give this album a listen. Granted, if you don’t enjoy electronic music, or music without vocals for that matter, then this album might not be for you.
Most of the songs that actually do have vocals are rap, which may also be at turnoff for some.
If you’re still interested – and I really hope you are – you can stream it from Spotify or SoundCloud for free, or buy it straight from iTunes for $15.99. The price might seem a little steep, but for 33 songs (34 on iTunes) running at just under 2 hours, it’s a pretty good deal.
As for the score, I give “Flume: Deluxe Version” a 9/10. It’s a fantastic album.
