If you’re someone who enjoys guessing what influences went into making a record, than listening to Fragrant World will be a lot of fun. Yeasayer is rightfully lumped into the Electronic genre, but their songs owe a debt to the worlds of pop, funk, folk, and psychedelia as well as more worldly African beats and Middle Eastern arrangements. Much of Fragrant World doesn’t stray from a mid-tempo bounce, but rather than get caught in a straight forward lulling monotony, the group chooses to create unique and engrossing soundscapes on each of the album’s eleven tracks. The vocal effects on “Longevity” give the tune a robotic Prince effect before giving way to swirling synths. Other tracks like “Devil And The Deed” and “No Bones” echo the work of Depeche Mode, but their fresh production and looped backing tracks keep the songs from feeling like previously trodden territory. The inclusion of the Dub influenced “Henrietta” gives the record that multi-genre balance that many of Yeasayer’s contemporaries fail to accomplish when assembling a full-length record. Fragrant World finds the group in a class all their own, and nowhere near what you may perceive as today’s Electronica.
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Students of the Unusual™ comic cover used with permission of 3BoysProductions
The Mercuri Bros.™ comic cover used with permission of Prodigal Son Press