Diversity is a wonderful thing, but there are too many albums on which it spills over into unfocused territory. There is nothing worse than a lack of focus on an album, and an uneven debut record can sink a career. One can have a sound that’s hard to pigeonhole, but at the same time, one must not come off as nonchalant. Adam Bainbridge should know: for some, the lack of a fully defined sound is going to prove a little irritating, but for most, like me, little thought will be given to this album’s cohesion. It doesn’t fully come off, but more than makes up for that with ten brilliant songs.
World, You Need a Change of Mind, the debut long-player from Bainbridge, otherwise known as Kindness (ex-The Kindness, trivia fans), is all over the place in the best kind of way. A sense of cohesion isn’t required by an album that leaves Bainbridge with so many avenues to explore in future. Pop, disco, funk and lounge music all come up in places during the album, and each song doesn’t conform to convention, with their creator unafraid to take risks. For instance, not very many people would dare to cover The Replacements’s Swingin’ Party, but not only does Bainbridge go there, he makes the song his own, a feat that must be commended.
Paired with the stunning six-minute opener SEOD, the cover, which is the second song on the album, helps to establish its momentum, and the rest of the material on World… is strong enough that the energy doesn’t really let up over the rest of its duration, even though it isn’t exactly the most up-tempo of albums. The third track somes in the form of the quasi-instrumental Gee Wiz, which has a companion piece in the form of forthcoming single Gee Up. The songs are polar opposites: the former is laid-back and meditative, while the latter is one of the songs on the album that’s most strongly influenced by disco. Fans of, say, Hercules and Love Affair will find a lot to like in that one.
This one-two punch leads in the mid-tempo, piano-led House quite effectively, before Bainbridge slows things right down for That’s Alright, which immediately catches the ear with its impressive strings-and-horns-featuring intro. It takes a little while to get going, but once the drums kick in and the song moves up a gear, it will be sure to put a smile on the listener’s face.
Bainbridge is in no way a maximalist; he knows how to get as much out of a little as he possibly can, and this is no more apparent on the somewhat ironically-named Bombastic, which is probably the most chilled-out song on the album. It forms part of the impressive final third of the record with earlier single Cyan and infectious closer Doigsong. His debut full-length ticks a whole host of different boxes. Over ten songs there is very little room for filler, but luckily he avoids it entirely. Consistency and diversity work very well together – if you thought you had Kindness pinned down before now, you need a change of mind.
World, You Need a Change of Mind is released next week on Female Energy/Polydor.
PRE-ORDER Kindness – World, You Need a Change of Mind [Amazon (CD/LP) / 7digital]
