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Worlds is the debut album by Porter Robinson, released on Astralwerks on August 12 2014. This album is a major shift in Robinson's sound, going from a heavy, electro style to a more experimental sound.
Background[]
During 2012 and 2013, while touring extensively on his Language tour, the then 19-year-old producer began to grow increasingly tired of the current commercial EDM scene, feeling that it was inhibiting his creativity by being too formulaic, with the production process being centered around making "DJ friendly" tracks.He decided instead to create an album that was true to himself and that channeled his own feelings of nostalgia and particularly his interest in Japanese culture such as video games, anime and Vocaloids.
He remained quiet about the album's production for a long time throughout 2013 and the beginning of 2014, performing DJ sets at festivals through the summer. On March 3, 2014, during the Oscars, he unexpectedly released the first track from the album, "Sea of Voices", which was available on SoundCloud and emerged into a worldwide trend on Twitter. This was the first track to exhibit his drastic change in style from his previous material, showing off an ambient style. He feared a backlash from long time fans, however the single was generally well received. This song is also featured in the soundtrack of NHL 15 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
On May 5, 2014, he announced the second single to be released from the album, "Sad Machine", to be released on May 13, 2014. This track was again a shift in style from "Sea of Voices", showing off a more typical EDM style, but used General MIDI sounds, similar to that heard in classic video games. The track utilized a Vocaloid, a heavily modified version of Avanna, modified by Robinson himself, for the vocals combined with his own vocals in a duet. Along with the release of the single, he also revealed the album would be released on August 12, 2014.
On June 3, 2014, he announced the third single from the album would be "Lionhearted", to be released on June 17, 2014 in the United States and later in the United Kingdom by August 3, 2014. This track again shifted styles to a more synth-pop style, aided by the vocals of indietronica band Urban Cone. A music video, directed by Jodeb was also released for the track. It features Robinson and a group of Japanese girls walking around with weapons that turn objects into glitchy, retro effects.
On July 29, 2014, the album's fourth single, "Flicker", was released along with a music video. The video is seen from a train window as glitchy effects akin to the "Lionhearted" music video take place on the passing landscape.
Tracklist[]
- Divinity (feat. Amy Millan) - 6:08
- Sad Machine - 5:50
- Years Of War (feat. Breanne Düren & Sean Caskey) - 3:56
- Flicker - 3:56
- Fresh Static Snow - 5:58
- Polygon Dust (feat. Lemaitre) - 3:29
- Hear The Bells (feat. Imaginary Cities) - 4:46
- Natural Light - 2:21
- Lionhearted (feat, Urban Cone) - 4:24
- Sea Of Voices - 4:59
- Fellow Feeling - 5:49
- Goodbye To A World - 5:28