Music Review - So Far So Good (+Time Bomb) by The Chainsmokers

So, you think the world’s getting better, huh? Everything smells better, the sun shines brighter, and you’ve never been in better shape. Well, I hate to remind you of that band you always ragged on, but they’ve got a new album out and I’d like to think of it as an attack on people like you. People who didn’t believe in them, people who were dream-crushing, nerve-hurters.

The Chainsmokers haven’t had an easy time finding acceptance in the mainstream, despite a plethora of hits living rent-free in the heads of any casual music listener. I personally never understood the hatred -  these fellas slap. They’ve got the best drops in the business and their staying power will one day warrant the respect they’ve earnt. In the meantime, however, they’ll continue finding ways to piss you off while ignoring any criticism, constructive or not. 

In their latest outing So Far So Good, they take the almost unnoticeable yet undeniably brave step of omitting features. Remember that VMA performance with Halsey? Some have labelled it ‘the worst live performance of all time’. Well, The Chainsmokers didn’t listen to the critics yet again. 

Rarely will you find such raw confidence, bolstered by genuine talent and song writing prowess, that pushes an act to defy all common logic. Instead of embodying DJ Khaled and letting the features do the heavy lifting, So Far So Good pushes the duo to rely on themselves for their spot on the radio. It’s impressive, if not faltering, as the LP casually floats down a relatively safe 13 track list. 

When beat drops are given precedence over vocals, I can’t deny it simply works better with the masses. Many of whom rule out a song simply upon hearing the first utterance from vocalist Drew Taggart, but if I beg them to wait for the drop some do concur that it was indeed phat. 

Standouts like upbeat ‘Maradona’, laidback ‘Riptide’, cute but repetitive ‘I Love U’, or lustful ‘Cyanide’ help retain buoyancy in a somewhat bloated ship, with low points found in the slow ‘In Too Deep’, and the tedious ‘Testing’. 

What makes this album relative again since it’s initial release last month is the newly minted quasi-deluxe edition, including the arguable EP Time Bomb. Unfortunately, I’m going to annihilate my previous compliments towards the duo’s confidence in going solo for the LP, because all three tracks in Time Bomb have features and are just-so-coincidentally some of the best tracks on the entire project.

But hey, at least they tried something new.

So Far So Good (+Time Bomb) is streaming now.