Falling into Place

 

    Home's latest album so far (but not his most recent work) and I have mixed feelings over it. It still has the same atmosphere and synth tone to it, but some parts of the music is different. For example, in this album the tracks are a little more experimental with incorporating more organic and natural sounds, like having the music sound like it's being played by an actual instrument at some points. Along with this the songs are structured a little differently too, seeming a little more formulaic in how they play out and not messing with their melodies as much. I still like what he does here, but it loses that sort of pseudo-ambient feel the last two albums had that are a big part of why I like them. On the other side of the spectrum is when a few of the tracks become too ambient, like Fata Morgana or Burning, and they sound like backing tracks for dialogue or camera shots. And on another note, the general feeling and sound is a tad bit weak. The whole album has a sort of background feeling of, as the name implies, falling into place and finality, but because of the difference in tone than the last two albums, this one's is weaker than those. It's still the same type of music, but just not as overly good as it's predecessors. 

    Highlights: Night Swim, Blackout, Billiards, Puzzle

Rating: 4/6

Addendum: I may have been a little too harsh on this album due to it having a separated sound from that of Odyssey and Before The Night. Some of the other criticism still stands (such as it becoming too unmemorable at times), but after listening to it many times since writing this review, my general opinion has improved. Changing the rating from a 3 to 4; 2-24-21.