Touch Sensitive - VISIONS

Touch Sensitive
VISIONS
2017
Spotify

I feel like everyone knows Touch Sensitive for one reason "Pizza Guy" his most famous song. It is even part of the intro to this new album VISIONS, which may bump you slightly. However it sets the tone for the record as an 80s electropop exploration and plus "Pizza Guy" was never on an official LP anyway. "Lay Down" however flips the script and brings in this super 90s R&B track. You half expect some vaporwave to make an appearance as well to complete the circle, but that doesn't happen. The thing you sense first is this album could not have come out at any other time and make an impact. VISIONS is so soaked in what is happening right now, that it would be almost impossible to separate it from the time period. Yet there is another aspect to Touch Sensitive that is much more seemingly yacht focused. Songs like "Veronica" feel like electronic yacht rock for 2017, so break out the cigarette boats and cocaine because Touch Sensitive is throwing a party. The music feels great at times, but it almost needs a really specific context to truly succeed. The production is so intricate and precise having taken four years to finally finish this record, but there are times where it seems like this could have come out much faster. Regular Classixx collaborator Harriet Brown makes two lackluster appearances on "Comfortable" and "Comfortable (Reprise)" heavily soaked in 90s R&B vibes but not all that different from previous tracks.

The thing you can't shake while listening to this album is how one note it really feels. The sound is nice and pleasing but it feels like it goes for too long and rarely changes. The highs simply aren't high enough to balance out the parts that just drag and drag. The "Comfortable (Reprise)" has an incredible driving bassline, but there is no reason for it to be another track, why not just blend it into the first? It seems like Touch Sensitive is taking one idea and trying to make it work across a whole album, and it just doesn't. At times the record can be fun and funky but you realize that He is ticking all the same boxes on every track. However you really could see these tracks being thrown on a party and really connecting, just as a group they tend to wear a bit thin. I don't particularly know what would be enough to set the songs apart, because essentially they are pretty good, but you just want each to make more of an impact as a part of the record. It's nice that Touch Sensitive have finally released a record after all this time, now we'll just have to see what's next.

6.2 out of 10