Yves Tumor - Heaven To A Tortured Mind (Review)

Blazing and blissful psychedelic soul - but is it overrated?

The fourth studio album they've released in the short space of just five years, it's here on Heaven To A Tortured Mind that Yves has found an astounding level of critical acclaim due to the breathtaking and haphazard mismatch of genres from post-punk to neo psychedelia via jazz fusion and a large heap of soul just to boot. The main question I have when listening through this truly eclectic range of sounds is this: to what extent does their haphazardous genre-bending become disorganised and chaotic? Some level of chaos is evidently a good thing, particularly when the bristling psychedelics' purpose is to elevate the funky but grounded basslines into an often magnificent display of noise and colour, but things can definitely get out of control.

It's fortunate that the bass is so prominent in the mix as it serves as the driving force behind most songs and often serves as the primary hook to get you into a track, particularly given the state of the melodies here. The issue with the incredibly bombastic approach to this fusion of so many sounds and styles is that each track feels poised on the edge of the breaking point where the often congested arrangements come rather close to devolving into noise, something particularly evident on "Medicine Burn" for as good as that track is. The emphasis on volume and scale often comes at the expense of the melodies, as the way Yves chooses to progress their songs is by adding layer upon layer of instruments as opposed to fleshing out and developing the melodies that are left to repeat instead of adapt. It's a valid method for songwriting of course, but it means you don't experience any payoff with most of these songs due to the way they're build up as towering masses of sound in a reflection of the inner turmoil and emotional frustrations that Yves focuses on thematically.

The album is definitely very effective at iterating and portraying its themes through both the lyrics and music, the bombast fuelling the constant contrasts between pleasure and turmoil and perpetually finding one within the other. In this way, it's in the presentation and delivery where Yves excels at capturing not only this semi-unique sound but also their exact intents in terms of much of the theming, my issues instead lying in the content itself. For as grand as things get, it feels as though Yves is being more than a little melodramatic considering the often shallow explorations of the themes of loneliness, instability and a whole lot of lust in the lyrics, the latter forming the basis for most of these songs' primary direction in a way that I find somewhat undercuts the potency of the fantastic performances. That said, it's still an enjoyable and worthwhile album that I find myself listening to quite a lot, regardless of my many frustrations with the project that prevent it from quite attaining the greatness it strives for. It's undeniably critic bait, but don't use that as your excuse to not be on board with this album.

7.5/10

Best Tracks: Gospel For A New Century; Kerosene!; Romanticist; Dream Palette; Folie Imposée; Strawberry Privilege; 
Worst Tracks: Super Stars; A Greater Love; Hasdallen Lights

Listen to "Kerosene!" here, or watch the video for "Gospel For A New Century"

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"Heaven To A Tortured Mind"
Yves Tumor

3rd April 2020

Warp Records

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