Adventure Club - Red // Blue

Adventure Club
Red // Blue
2016
Spotify

Adventure club had the misfortune of releasing this new record, Red // Blue, on the same day as Deadmau5 new record came out. The Canadian duo had their work cut out for them if they were going to take down the other big mouse but their approach is so different it is hard to even compare the two. Red // Blue is populated with dreamy pop hooks and some pure EDM dropness. This is elevated club music, yet club music all the same. A song like 'Dreams" is a bit glitchy and soundscape-ish but at it's heart it is about making a pop electronic song. We could easily criticise  Adventure Club for this but they are moving the genre forward a bit and really creating some great EDM. "Firestorm" was one of the singles previously released and it has this very ethereal verse yet an almost dub step chorus. They mostly stay in an EDM lane throughout the album they just happen to do it better. "Forever" has vocals from Ben Stevenson and is actually a welcome break from what is almost completely female dominated. There is plenty of head bobbing and hand waving to be hand on this dance album, but the writing also is not half bad even though the usual EDM topics tend to be the default for Adventure Club's writing.

The thing you cannot shake when you listen to this record however is just how middle of the road it all is. Adventure Club really do not take a big risk one way or another, "Crash 2.0" which is a collaboration with DallasK is a fun and lively song, but we have heard something similar many times before. This might be fine if you are drunk or high in a club and are just looking to blow it all out, but as a casual listen it makes it very difficult. Red // Blue tends to be good enough to keep the duo headlining major events, yet it does not really cast them in a different light than just a big room DJ. The hardest part about writing about a record like this is that it is totally fine. Not bad, not amazing, a few nice things and a few bad right in that spot you never want to be. Polarization is gold in music critically, but for mass appeal perhaps this is the road you want to take. If you find your way to any big room shows in the future you may very well hear one or two of the tracks from Red // Blue but i doubt you'll know it, or really care.

6.0 out of 10