‘ILLENIUM’ Album Review
The sound of Illenium is fully realized on this record…but at what cost?
Album Review
Title: ILLENIUM
Artist: Illenium
Genre: Future Bass
Release Date: April 28, 2023
Record label: Warner Records
When the news first came out that we’d be getting a new Illenium LP this year, I’d say I was among the most excited. I’ve been a superfan of the American Producer/DJ, Nicholas Miller’s, unique blend of emotionally charged, melodic, stadium-ready bass music since his 2016 debut “Ashes”. Well. Six years later and we have the fifth Illenium album before us. This self-titled magnum opus is sixteen tracks long and clocks in at just under an hour. It is, in many ways, a complete triumph, but not without its own stumbles.
I legitimately feel like this album represents the fullest realization of what this project was always trying to achieve from the beginning. Miller has certainly never been shy about his influences. From the start, Illenium’s focus on emotional lyrics with earnest, urgent, and vulnerable vocal performances has seen him being classified as “EDM for emo kids” or “Sadboi music”. I don’t disagree. This isn’t an insult; this particular thing resonates heavily with me and, given his meteoric rise, it resonates with many others too. On this fifth album, the project doesn’t just lean into these influences - it does a straight-up trust fall into them. Quite literally a love letter to the classic era of the mid-2000s pop punk and emo music, the collaborations on this thing are insane, and seeing the credits filled me with so much nostalgia before I even got to listen to the album. You’ve got legends like Avril Lavigne, Travis Barker, All Time Low, and Motionless in White alongside up-and-coming icons like Spiritbox and American Teeth. Are. You. Kidding. Me?
So. This album should be a slam dunk, right? Here’s where it gets a bit more complicated for me. There’s more than a few moments of genuine brilliance here. There are even songs on here that I’ll listen to repeatedly. Just looping and looping and looping. Some of them are legitimately THAT good. But, at nearly an hour, as you might imagine, the album suffers from some flow issues and inconsistencies with some objectively weaker tracks included. This album could’ve definitely had some cuts and been a much tighter listening experience overall.
The soundscape is classic Illenium, with some subtle but significant evolutionary steps. This is actually a major point that illustrates my inner conflict around how to feel about this album. Massive, anthemic supersaw stacks backed by huge, pounding drums? Check. Emotionally charged lyrics and vocal performances? Check. Screeching, soaring melodic leads? Oh, you betcha. All of this is backed by more actual guitars and real organic instrumentation than ever before. The flirtations with pop punk and emo from the last full-length “Fallen Embers” have developed into a full-on relationship here, making this a crossover that, for Illenium, is a significant step forward.
The problem is that, if you’ve been a consistent listener, the change is likely to feel so subtle that it resonates as a half-step forward and not a significant evolution. Here’s the thing, as with all art, your mileage will vary. A huge part of your experience with this album is going to be how much you like Illenium to begin with, and how oversaturated you are with the traditional Illenium sound. If you’ve never really been a fan of this type of sonic landscape, then this album isn’t going to convert you. Illenium’s been fairly prolific, with a rate of one full length every other year since his debut. That’s a massive output but comes with its own problems - namely overexposure and fatigue. It’s a classic catch-22. Illenium was able to ascend into the stratosphere because of his consistency of releases but that very consistency is the thing that makes his newest effort hit just that little bit less effectively than what’s come before despite it, on every measurable metric, being the best technical work he’s done.
Still, Illenium’s skill at crafting emotional bangers is top-class. Even non-fans will likely find at least a few songs that they like. A really pivotal moment I had listening to this album that illustrates the power of what Illenium does was on one of my fave cuts here, “DRWN”. The song opens with a pulsating vocal and synth bed; beautiful but pretty much on brand for the project. Then, after a short intro, it dips into a glitched-out, saturated vocal line before revealing that the vocal that was sampled and reused for this song is actually the chorus of children singing the hook from Bring Me The Horizon’s breakout hit “Drown”. I. Was. Floored. At the end of the day, that’s my major takeaway from this album. Stuff like this either speaks to you, or it doesn’t.
This album isn’t an industry-defining one. It’s not trying to reinvent the wheel. Instead, Illenium’s focus is on that intangible, beautiful, magical ability that music has to connect us to our emotions and to one another.
Written by Colony | May 12, 2023
