Portugal. The Man – Chris Black Changed My Life (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz]

Portugal. The Man – Chris Black Changed My Life (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 34:24 minutes | 423 MB | Genre: Indie Pop, Indie Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Atlantic Records

Chris Black Changed My Life is the follow-up to 2017’s Woodstock and dedicated to their late friend Chris Black, who sometimes acted as their hype man at shows. The album was produced by Jeff Bhasker, and some songs, including “Thunderdome [W.T.A],” “Summer of Luv,” “Time’s a Fantasy,” “Champ,” and “Anxiety:Clarity”.

Formed in Alaska but currently residing in Portland, OR, this quintet, led by guitarist/vocalist John Gourley, espouses brainiac indie rock eclecticism that’s focused on bending pop grooves, electronica and hip-hop to their will. It’s a state of mind that makes their music wildly diverse and everywhere and anywhere at once. Despite their smarter-than-thou attitude—which demands much from listeners—this is also a band that knows how to write insanely catchy hooks. The minute-long opening track, “Heavy Games II (feat. Jeff Bhasker)” opens with simple acoustic piano backed with voices. The brief lyrics come to a quick conclusion: “Heavy games can’t take this back/ Cause the present has a past/ Now I’m fucked up forever.” In anthemic second track, “Grim Generation,” brass accents highlight the choir vocals, an impressive groove and a vocal processor that makes Gourley’s falsetto flutter. The digital magic crests in big beat “Thunderdome [W.T.A.]” as more high voices sing, “You know you want it/ If you leave somebody you love” before guest rapper Black Thought rhymes. They take a shot at creating another anthem like their 2017 hit, “Feel It Still,” with the big “Summer of Luv,” a slow groove collaboration with New Zealand’s Unknown Mortal Orchestra that by its end becomes a sticky sweet pop single. Recorded at a number of different studios and produced by Jeff Bhasker, the sound of Chris Black Changed My Life (named for a friend of the band who died in 2019), is processed and groomed to a fine edge. While the hooks slow and then disappear in later tracks with guests Edgar Winter and Paul Williams, Gourley and his mates are astute aggregators of different musical styles—all of which focus on vocals and have interest in filling a dance floor. After a halo of voices raised in mock praise winnows down to silence, Paul Williams ends the album by saying, “And before you see that whole forest fire you see this massive cloud of smoke/ And it’s cinematic, it’s just biblical/ In the end does it just become entertainment/ Wow that’s a fantastic looking fire that’s about to sweep through me.” Uh … heavy. Clever at blending diverse influences and very self-aware, this is a quintet with ideas and ambition to burn. – Robert Baird

Tracklist:
1-01. Portugal. The Man – Heavy Games II (feat. Jeff Bhasker) (01:03)
1-02. Portugal. The Man – Grim Generation (03:20)
1-03. Portugal. The Man – Thunderdome [W.T.A.] (feat. Black Thought & Natalia Lafourcade) (02:54)
1-04. Portugal. The Man – Dummy (02:25)
1-05. Portugal. The Man – Summer of Luv (feat. Unknown Mortal Orchestra) (02:39)
1-06. Portugal. The Man – Ghost Town (03:19)
1-07. Portugal. The Man – Time’s a Fantasy (feat. Jeff Bhasker) (03:02)
1-08. Portugal. The Man – Doubt (03:02)
1-09. Portugal. The Man – Plastic Island (03:03)
1-10. Portugal. The Man – Champ (feat. Edgar Winter) (03:49)
1-11. Portugal. The Man – Anxiety:Clarity (feat. Paul Williams) (05:44)

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