Accelerate is an excellent weather gauge of what is happening in music today. Tastes come and go, fashion changes, the zeitgeist having writ, moves on. But this ever-moving scene is excellent for the shrewd creative, giving them a fluid and flexible sonic palette to paint their musical patterns. Accelerate is the sound of this in action.
There is a dark, alternative pop vibe at the album’s core, but the other sounds and styles he infuses it with make all the difference. The opener, Devil’s Dance, blends skittering trap beats with accessibility and atmosphere; Mean To Me feels like the dark underbelly of R&B, Glimmer is a hushed, haunted ballad, and the title track wanders between epic crescendoes and hushed tones.
Musical styles move quickly, and I do not doubt that Matt Thompson will be ahead of the curve wherever they go. But for now, at least, if you want to know what the cutting edge of discerning yet commercially accessible music sounds like, this is it.
