VICTORIA is a full-length album from Scott Standley. The artist mentions “This is my first attempt to combine all the elements of my musical history into one sound.” Suffice it to say after spending some time with this there are a lot of different genres. It’s a short album at only twenty-five minutes but it doesn’t feel like one second goes to waste here.
The album starts with “Ready” and feels as if this song stood on a foundation of gospel and roots music with a contemporary production style. I loved some of the unconventional texture, tones and colors he gets. It’s experimental in a way but it never takes away from the heart of the song. The vocals in particular were just fantastic overall. On top of that the song unfolds in a way that feels organic and there’s very little distinction where a verse or chorus might be. It’s a very impressive opening song.
Up next is “Delicate Song” which starts with falsetto singing, smooth bass patterns and rhythmic patterns. It’s unique, catchy and easy to appreciate. Similar to the previous song it evolves in a way where it feels like nothing repeats. This song did have some resemblance to Bon Iver and maybe Frank Ocean.
The soulful vibes continue on “Simple Sweet.” I loved the vocals on the previous song but man this might be the best yet. The production is so singular here yet feels seamless. There are moments where that’s not much more than bass and vocals but if you listen closely you can hear all sorts of patterns emerging. Everything is sort of smooth and rounded. There’s nothing sharp that’s jarring.
“You Got It” is next. A sub bass instrument bounces around the space where disparate elements are introduced and dissipate. There’s a lot of interesting production here as well, such as the filter he uses on his voice. Similar to what I mentioned these effects emerge slowly and fade in.
“Before All That” felt like an interlude mostly made up of warm vocal harmonies. Last up is “The Whole Time” which is a very strong song as well with soul gripping vocals and more production that I found to be inventive.
I loved this album because of the juxtaposition between the heart and soul of gospel and the modern day production. It sounded very original and around each corner was something novel. Make sure to give this a spin.
