Baths' Will Wiesenfeld released the first volume of Pop Music/False B-Sides back in 2011, shortly after he issued his debut album, Cerulean -- in other words, several lifetimes ago when it comes to his music. Nearly a decade later, Pop Music/False B-Sides II draws from ideas he left on the cutting room floor while making 2013's Obsidian and 2017's Romaplasm, as well as ideas originally intended for his ambient project Geotic. Wiesenfeld doesn't just have more material to draw from for this collection; he's also got more ...
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Baths' Will Wiesenfeld released the first volume of Pop Music/False B-Sides back in 2011, shortly after he issued his debut album, Cerulean -- in other words, several lifetimes ago when it comes to his music. Nearly a decade later, Pop Music/False B-Sides II draws from ideas he left on the cutting room floor while making 2013's Obsidian and 2017's Romaplasm, as well as ideas originally intended for his ambient project Geotic. Wiesenfeld doesn't just have more material to draw from for this collection; he's also got more experience. The flow of creativity and relationships, with people and music alike, can be felt throughout Pop Music/False B-Sides II. Despite the many years' worth of source material this collection was created from, its sounds and themes feel unified (it probably helps that he reconfigured the music and wrote lyrics for them at roughly the same time). Because of this, Pop Music/False B-Sides II often feels like an alternate history of Baths' work that touches on the overall strengths of Wiesenfeld's music. On the moody "Agora," his reflections on loneliness hint at the raw expressions of pain that made Obsidian such a visceral listening experience; on "Sex," the tension between the music's heat and the hesitancy in the nagging chorus "Is it love, or is it focus?" adds new layers to Romaplasm's uninhibited eroticism. Similarly, largely instrumental tracks like "Lung Tile" and "Veranda Shove" are fine examples of how he combines lots of eardrum-tickling elements -- lilting background vocals, rippling chromatic percussion, droning strings, and skipping beats -- into idyllic electro pop. Since Pop Music/False B-Sides II is a smaller scale project than Wiesenfeld's other albums, it allows him to indulge in more intimate moments like "Immerse," in which he sings the praises of surrounding himself in world of his own, where he can create and dream. Songs such as this one are welcome reminders of how his lyrics sketch out just enough story to let the music fill in the rest of the details and mood, as on "Wistful," where he waits on shore for a lover who's out to sea, or "Be That," an intriguing and thoughtful song about unrequited love from the perspective of the person who can't return those feelings. All of Wiesenfeld's empathetic and impressionistic powers come together beautifully on "The Stones." A lovely meditation on loss, growth, and companionship that captures the feeling of sharing a silent moment with someone close, it's one of his finest songs yet. Moments like this make Pop Music/False B-Sides II a particularly inspired work of creative recycling, and well worth hearing for anyone who's fallen under Baths' spell. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi
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