Kid Astronaut "ALCHEMY" Album Review • (SALT) Magazine

Alchemy is Kid Astronaut’s latest release. It’s out now and lordy, is it a doozy.

Initially, it legitimately surprised me with the first track TURN IT UP which drips in a darkness that is very genuine, authentic, and unique. It’s an aesthetic that many try to copy, and fail miserably at.

At 1:00 into the track though, we get the first glimpse at what makes this album so damn good. The track breaks from this tough front and dives into some beautiful and delicate vocal harmonies. It’s completely unexpected but fits so well to contrast the abrasive nature of the track. As a larger theme, the album is playing with contrasting ideas, sounds, and overarching aesthetics all the way down. It’s genuinely fantastic.

THE GOOD

It seems Kid Astronaut is at his best with Alchemy. These tracks are all amazingly complex and rich tapestries in regards to production. One of my personal favorites that sold me completely on the album was SPACESHIPS, mainly because I’m a sucker for groovy synth bass lines and catchy vocal hooks. Granted, Kid Astronaut is going to have to get used to being shoehorned into the same box that “TINTS (feat. Kendrick Lamar)” by Anderson Paak lives in.

But I have to say if you had to live in a box, that’s some pretty good company.

The rest of this album bounces back and forth between moody darkness and shimmery almost-pop. Again stressing contrasts, Kid Astronaut is playing around with different styles and themes in a playful way. It never occurred that he is trying to “find his sound” or anything like that, it just seems like he is doing exactly what he wants to do.

Alchemy is a great example of laying it all out there, it’s vulnerable and melancholic yet still has a spine and doesn’t feel whimsical. Whatever well he is tapping into, it’s certainly deep.

THE BAD

There are small little distractions that one could pick on, but those tend to be technical and relatively uninteresting. The biggest track that fell flat was REPLAY, and not because it’s bad by any means.

It seems like a track where the album’s vision wasn’t fully realized, that idea of contrast never fully expressed. In the lyrics, you get introspection and some tackling of some high concept ideas. I wanted more of those beautiful vocals thought, popping in even for one bar just to break up the brooding.

THE VERDICT

Kid Astronaut is someone to keep your eyes on. This album is proof of that, and some of these songs are going to garner some well-deserved attention. Alchemy is one of the best thought out albums I’ve reviewed in a while, specifically how he is playing with big themes and expressing them not only in his verses but also in the production and in the instrumentation.

It’s really exciting to hear this coming out of Denver, and no doubt Kid Astronaut and all of the other collaborators on Alchemy have something to really be proud of. Elevating their own carriers as musicians in any market is one thing — but making something that helps elevate an entire scene is a whole other deal, and they are doing it.