Twin Shadow is one of those acts I passed up for a while just because of how "over-hip" the guy looked. Yes, of course, that's a shallow reason but hey- I'm a moody, disloyal, temperamental music critic. Once I got around to giving Twin Shadow a good listen though I decided that he was an act worth the time.
Twin Shadow is a dark but majestic electronic artist that in many ways embodies the spirit of many post-punk acts I admire. Here the goth maxim of "dark but danceable" definitely applies as George Lewis croons delicately over a series of infectious electronic beats. Despite all the Morrissey comparisons, Lewis' voice really reminds me of another English rock luminary: he sounds much like golden-age Peter Gabriel on tracks like, "Tyrant Destroyed" where he the vocals are really more like melodic, gravelly, whispers.
Poppy numbers like "Shooting Holes" give Twin Shadow's music a scope beyond just some obscure indie niche. This is another Gabriel-esque tune but also includes disco guitar and drum beats, something you'd have a hard time finding on "So" or "Security".
The danciness and darkness seem to work well together but it's hard to make too many other style conclusions based on the music of "Forget". It's all very good stuff but I'm looking forward to Lewis' distilling from his music an even more individual style on his next release. This is still very much a concept album but this was released in 2010 and it's almost 2012. It will be interesting to see if there are any new developments in his ACL performance.
Grade: B-
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