Kindness - World, You Need A Change Of Mind
- Written by Russell Warfield
Kindness recently released a video for their funk-jam ‘Gee Up’ which turns into a post-post-post-post ironic comedy sketch at its halfway point, spoofing the taste-making, blog-baiting hype machine which can engulf chill-wave, lo-fi dance artists like Kindness. The tone was hard to gauge: a smug exercise in having your cake and eating it, or just some tongue in cheek fun? So many elements of Kindness’ debut LP conspire to make you hate it before you’ve even heard it: that self-satisfied album title; consecutive tracks called ‘Gee Wiz’ and ‘Gee Up’; a cover of Anita Dobson’s ‘Anyone Can Fall In Love’ (more commonly recognised as the Eastenders theme tune) - all clues that World, You Need A Change Of Mind is likely to be an encapsulation of everything satirised in that novelty Being A Dickhead’s Cool song from a year or so back. But Kindness dispel with these anticipatory criticisms in the most effective way imaginable: by making one of the best records of 2012 so far - warm, generous, addictive and magnificent.
To hear the album’s should-be low point - that Anita Dobson cover - is to discover (and I’m fully aware of how unlikely this sounds) that it actually stands out as one of the album’s immediate highlights on an record loaded with high points. Dialing the tempo back to a smoky, languid crawl, ghostly backing vocals and soft synths creeping into the mix as it builds, Kindess successfully turns a well-worn melody into a vehicle of affective melancholy far more reflective of the lyrics’ weary warning than the original - a resolute triumph in the face of what should have been the ultimate hipster misstep. If Kindness can make that work, then it’s little wonder that the rest of these numbers are such gems. And indeed, the other cover on offer here - ‘Swinging Party’, originally by The Replacements - makes similarly successful improvements over its source material: the faraway staccato throbs of synth beautifully extenuating the gorgeous vocal melody, draped with reverb-soaked harmonies just perfectly.
The brilliantly reinterpreted covers are evidence of Kindness’ killer instinct for delivering his songs in whichever modes offer maximum impact, never losing his nerve even as he flirts with sounds and genres widely synonymous with crimes of style over substance. Using bedroom-pop dance music as a base from which to explore minimalism, big-beat, acid jazz, electro-funk, disco and much more, the disparity of styles never erode the album’s strongly defined identity, partly owing to Bainbridge’s consistently strong ear for melody and rhythm, and partly owing to the album’s brilliant sense of pacing as it loses itself in joyous eclecticism - the walking bassline and disco drum beat of ‘Gee Up’ soaring out of the ambient swirl of ‘Gee Wiz’ being just one example of a stark contrast which pleasantly surprises rather than nastily jolts.
The overall result is a collection of ten distinct (and distinctive) dance tracks which stand alone as addictive pop songs, as well as coalescing into an immersive ride, flowing with the stylish grace of an accomplished DJ mix. A thrilling debut with brilliant attention to detail, World, You Need A Change Of Mind stands as a seemingly effortlessly realised vision - a blossom of ideas jostling for position between strong melodies and confident rhythms.