Each album released by an artist should be a masterpiece, a cohesive flow of tracks that come together to form the greater work of art. To create a masterpiece, harmony is absolutely essential. Unfortunately, Milo Greene missed this memo.
Milo Greene’s latest album, Control, has some wonderful tracks to offer. “Royal Blue” is haunting and beautiful, a sea of soft sounds rolling over one another. A harmony and stability are created within the track, but it stops there.
As tracks roll after one another, there is no harmony in the flow of their progression. Instead of getting lost in the essence of the album, you are left wondering if you are still listening to the same artist. While “Parent’s House” sounds largely similar to tracks by The xx, “On the Fence” brings a Franz Ferdinand sound to the table.
There is a delicate balance to creating an album. It must provide the listener with a better understanding of the artist: the sound and feel the artist wishes to create with their music. There must be an essence to the album as a whole, a sense of cohesion among tracks. Variety between songs is of course imperative, but a harmony throughout must still be in existence.
This harmony was simply not created through the tracks of Control. The disjointed songs do not leave listeners with a better understanding of Milo Greene, but instead with more questions. Artists should strive to be innovative and create music that differs from that which they have already created, but they still must have a sense of identity within each song. Even in complete experimentation, an artist should create an album that has a sense of balance. Yes, Pet Sounds was completely unlike anything the Beach Boys had created before, but the album as a whole had a harmony to it. The listener understood the boys were taking risks with this new record, but it was still highly identifiable as theirs. No questions were left as to whether this was the same group that sang about girls, cars, and fun in the sun.
While creating an album that lacks proper cohesion, Milo Greene is not without hope. There are glimmers of talent and moments of greatness within individual tracks. A masterpiece may come from them still, if they ever figure out the essentiality of harmony.