Me and My Friends #46 - What am I thinking?
Since Unlimited Love emerged on April 1, it's gone through that cycle that every new album goes through inside my head. I touched on it in a letter a few years back, but essentially: there are waves, and with each wave your perspective on the thing changes. The early faves, the deeper cuts, the things you reconsider. The initial opinions that soften, the initial opinions that grow even firmer.
Allow me an awful simile: at this point, Unlimited Love is like a pair of shoes. It fit weirdly at first, but I'm used to it now, and it's a familiar, well-worn thing. Which, of course, means I can now start thinking about it properly.
I was asked recently by a very kind person when my review of the album would be coming. Flattering, but the request surprised me. We all got it at the same time, and I didn't think I had anything unique to say about it. The type of person who subscribes to this newsletter has already heard it a thousand times, and I wouldn't dare to try to change anyone's mind. Besides, who cares what I think? But I suppose if you're subscribed to this newsletter, maybe you do, so here goes:
The one (long) paragraph answer: some tracks are an utter delight, and would make a Best Of compilation if I had to make one. Like virtually every other Chili Peppers album, there are edits that would probably make it a lot better for me. I'd lose "Black Summer" entirely (turns out I was wrong about the auto-tune, it really was an accent, but the song's still a dud), and start the album with "Here Ever After." I'd lose "Poster Child" (yikes), and depending on the day, any one of "Not the One," "The Great Apes," "Bastards of Light," "One Way Traffic" or "Veronica" could go without regret. It's made me appreciate and miss the production experimentation of The Getaway. "It's Only Natural" features one of my favourite ever verse parts coupled with a dreadful chorus that slows the song down to a boring sludgy crawl. Anthony is in good form throughout, though he says "She's a..." far too many times: it's this album's version of By the Way's "come again." Flea, John and Chad are their usual incredible selves.
A solid 7/10. I like it, love parts, skip others, and I'm glad it exists, etc. etc.
But the stand-out on the album to me has been, despite its goofy name, "Whatchu' Thinkin'" The band are due to start a US tour in a few days and I really think this should be the single that accompanies that tour, if that's even a thing anymore.
The bassline at the beginning is somehow enormously catchy despite its complexity, and Anthony's lyrics - while being the same old I'm a prick, but you love it theme that he's been relying on for a few years now - are the perfect accompaniment. Chad's drums are on point; his triplet kick to start things off is so fresh sounding, and it's one of my favourite parts of his.
Where the song gets really interesting to me is the juxtaposition between the verse and the chorus. Throughout the verse, Flea is playing his complex line, and John supplements it with little stabs of chords. As the chorus begins, Flea reverts to a simpler, more traditional root note line on the E-string, while John, after at first just playing a distorted version of his verse part, implements these wonderful (and damn hard to play) arpeggios.
Essentially, they swap. In the verse, Flea is complex and John is simple, and in the chorus, it's the opposite. But all this happens around the context of Anthony's vocals changing, Chad's drums exploding, John's added distortion, so it isn't immediately noticeable at first. It's one of those things that you might only realise after your fiftieth listen - or at least it was the case for me. My main takeaway was that John didn't add backing vocals, which was a surprising choice.
To further tickle the ears, during the outro, as John's solo is soaring in an ocean of feedback, Flea introduces another bassline that mimics John's chorus line: focus on the looping three-note pattern he finishes every measure with. It's like they had to take turns ensuring that at least one of them was doing something tricky and syncopated at all times.
I'm not sure if any of this was a conscious decision, or if it just came up naturally during the song's creation. John and Flea tend to do that without thinking about it; it's one of the things they love about working together. But the interplay has made me appreciate the song even more.
I'm looking forward to what realisation arises next.
Deep into the copy-editing stage of the 1983 book. Hope to share news soon!
Until next month,
H.