Avicii - True Review

By Marcin Bryszak /

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rating: 4

When Tim Bergling a.k.a. Avicii opened the second half of his set at the main stage of Ultra Music Festival in March this year he took a gamble. The crowd of over 300,000 hyped-up ravers who gathered in Miami expected to hear more EDM goodness in style of his trademark mainstream club-smashers 'Levels', 'Silhouettes' and 'I Could Be The One'. But the Swedish DJ-producer did not deliver his 'signature dishes' €“ the progressive synths, trackstops and pitch bends. Instead he came out onto the stage accompanied by a live stomping band and dropped a new track in the form of country-themed anthem 'Wake Me Up', along with many other experimental sounds. The ravers weren't sure what to make of it. They could not have predicted this material to be his entire upcoming debut album entitled 'TRUE'. Their confusion about the sizeable shift in sound turned into a widespread online criticism. In response to the many harsh words from fans who believed the performance showed a sign of departure from Avicii's electronic style towards a more country-influenced music, the artist said "Wow looks like I stirred up some controversy with my set Friday night at UMF. Seeing alot of people who don't understand. "I really wanted to switch things up and do something fun and different. Disruption is good when a (dance music) scene is half stuck...We wanted to bring 15 minutes of something fresh to break (Ultra) up. We knew people would be provoked. "It's about how to incorporate acoustic instruments from different styles and influences you wouldn't expect and still staying true to your own sound and musicality which for me has always been about the melodies and positive energy. This album consists 100% of songs I personally love. It's true to me, true to my brand, true to Avicii."'TRUE', co-released by PRMD Music and Island Records and available in the UK from September 16, starts off with 'Wake Me Up'. This collaboration with soul singer Aloe Blacc, who provides some inspirational lyrics to accompany the country-flecked guitar strums, has proved to be a winning formulae going to number one in 63 countries, thus quickly gaining a status of a worldwide smashhit and this year's biggest summer anthem. The single, together with 'Hey Brother', are pioneers in mixing country and electronic music to create a new brand of euphoric dance music. The whole album, bar the grand finale 'Edom', is characterised by collaborations with unlikely artists from a wide range of genres. Aloe Blacc, Dan Tyminsk, Audra Mae, Nile Rodgers (fresh off Daft Punk's Get Lucky), Adam Lambert, Linnea Henriksson and Mac Davis, who wrote 'In the Ghetto' and 'A Little Less Conversation' for Elvis Presley, all make 'TRUE' a unique EDM album. Unique because it is defined by soul, folk, R&B, bluegrass, rock and funk €“ not the sort of company you would expect to find on Avicii's debut album. This experiment includes the indie-electronic vibes of 'Liar Liar', a crowd-pleaser 'Lay Me Down' featuring Nile Rogers and Adam Lambert, and superb collaborations with up-and-coming folk artist Audra Mae on 'Dear Boy' and 'Long Road to Hell'. If you're looking for glimpses of the pure progressive sound 'Hope There's Someone' is there to fill in the blank. This album 'goes where no other dance album has gone before' because its author was willing to broaden his horizons and appeal to a wider audience. It is by far the most integrative, diverse EDM album to date. And that's why people will remember Tim Bergling. Because he is inventive. He's brilliant. He's Avicii.