With the rise of electronic dance music, the genre has become dominant in mainstream music today. Beyond EDM looks to move away from the dance floor and into your earbuds, bringing you artists and genres to calm your senses and vibes, because you can't always turn up.
Giving away a career to pursue a passion is hard to do, but respectable in the eyes of many. The concept of walking away from a multi-million dollar producing deal for the one and only Beyoncé to go solo appears to be on the brink of sheer insanity, but the unclassifiable BOOTS has transitioned in such a manner that he may be the only one to pull it off without being criticized for the rest of his life.
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Florida native and New Yorker Jordan Asher is a confusing character. The story of moving across the country, being homeless to randomly falling in the lap of Jay-Z’s Roc Nation and writing Grammy-nominated songs such as “Drunk in Love” and “Haunted” for the world's beloved queen Bey seems unreal. Yet, Asher didn’t want to rest on his laurels and remain in the darkness as only a producer. So, he did the absurd and dove back into the deep end to be a self-sustained artist. The results have been nothing but astounding and beautiful.
BOOTS dropped his debut album, “AQUARIA,” at the beginning of November. It's a combination of hauntingly beautiful and uncomfortably abrasive sounds, all purposefully aimed at making the listener focus on the music or turn it off. The tracks refuse to sit in the background while any other activity goes on, demanding attention with nearly every beat.
It’s impressive how Asher crafts sounds that initially appear indigestible in how shrill and sharp the tones are. Yet in context of the greater song, they fit quite comfortably and have a sugary pop appeal to them. It’s entirely confusing in presentation, but comforting in consumption, similar to the quasi-political stance he takes in the lyrics. To a point, his sound is diverse; different listeners may label the music in whatever genre they are most attracted to.
He’s not hip-hop by today’s trap-tinged standards, but for every moment that comes off as a rock song, it derails off into a glitch filled, post-apocalyptic, vampire rave that exists in the nightmares of chemically damaged brains. There’s a reason why the music video for “C.U.R.E.,” that debuted on Adult Swim, creates psychedelic trip visuals to match the gut punch of a record. In moments like that, he’s the son of Nine Inch Nails, raised on 808s, and the Internet that has granted him a short attention span.
Certainly, the inability to pigeonhole all the music he makes into one name is why he’s so lauded — it’s just too good. It’s angry and sad at the same time, like a chill on the back of the neck that makes your hair stand on edge. It’s the kick in the chest to keep energy up as you gallop through finals or procrastinate and get nothing done. Whatever you do, give BOOTS a listen.
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Reach the reporter at dloche@asu.edu or follow @DMLoche on Twitter.
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