Superorganism – Superorganism

The mystery around this eight-piece, multinational, oddball collective has been one of the biggest talking points in music over the past year. When they released their debut single Something For Your M.I.N.D. in January last year, the music world was flooded with questions and conspiracy theories, with everyone wondering who or what is Superorganism?

Quickly picking up fans in Frank Ocean and Ezra Koenig, and being hailed music’s next big thing by just about every music publication going, Superorganism have a lot to prove with their debut album, and they just about get there. With five of the album’s ten tracks already released as singles, you already get an idea of what to expect before you start listening; the problem though is that it doesn’t really go anywhere from there.

With nods to the sound of the early-mid 00s electro indie pop golden age, Superorganism replicate the energy of that era and undeniably relish the element of fun. The rapturous chorus of opening track It’s All Good is incredibly joyful and entirely infectious, and you would seriously struggle not to bop your head along to Something For Your M.I.N.D. SPRORGNSM too is full of life, sounding like a pop nursery rhyme, with chants of ‘I wanna be / A superorganism’ ringing like the band’s mantra.

However, there are also some downright bizarre moments towards the end of the album, in the likes of The Prawn Song and Relax. The former – an ode to being a prawn – sees the band’s lyrical immaturity at its height, with lines like ‘You people are all the same / Going blah blah blah / Going bang bang bang'. The latter – an amalgamation of noise, car horns and all – is, ironically, not relaxing at all.

Superorganism could've been the perfect indie pop record if they'd have cut back a bit on the style and added a bit more of the substance. For a band being dubbed the future of music, it may come as a surprise just how much Superorganism’s self-titled debut recalls the past.

Listen to: It’s All Good, SPRORGNSM