Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Multi-Love

Multi-Love is the third full-length album to be released by American indie-psych group, Unknown Mortal Orchestra. While UMO maintains their nonsensical prose and their fantastical harmonies, this newest release embodies more control. On Multi-Love, UMO finds their artistic balance and fosters maturity within playfulness.

Multi-Love is much more listenable and inviting than past work by UMO. While this album is still slightly discombobulated and transient (an ode to its predecessors), Multi-Love takes on a certain level of wisdom and clarity. The lyrics to the majority of the tracks are emotional and romantic, with a zest of political atonement. In “Puzzles,” the final track of the album, there are lyrics such as “America, open your door/ Is it right to always fight against the other/ What is a person of colour” that criticize mainstream ways of thinking. Norms and expectations that have become associated with culturally constructed traits, such as gender and race, are all put into question. UMO explores personal identity and questions our notions of ourselves within the realm of society’s greater ideals. Individual sorrow and confusion within the context of our political reality are considered on Multi-Love, yet the album remains effortlessly content. And yes, in keeping with UMO’s artistic history, there are plenty of allusions to drug use on Multi-Love.

Multi-Love is slightly more symphonic than UMO’s past work. The album commences with the track “Multi-Love,” with some simple piano keys playing and Nielson’s gentle voice pulling listeners into the album. Understated, clean and soft, this artful intro captures the attention of its audience with subtlety. UMO uses their knack for instrumental creativity to engage listeners, rather than intensity or abrasiveness. For example, in “Extreme Wealth and Casual Cruelty,” the trumpet is played strategically throughout the song, creating a peculiar lullaby of sorts and rendering its audience captivated.

Exotic and catchy rhythms are used to lure in listeners on Multi-Love. “Ur Life One Night” is an explosive song that gets stuck in your head. This upbeat, fun and very forgiving track is written about the feeling when one falls in love with someone for just one night. Rather than feeling guilty about our misadventures, “Ur Life One Night” reminds us that whimsicality is an aspect of life that can and should be cherished. The mystery and the appeal of the unknown are fruitfully exposed on this song. Never a group to keep things too somber, UMO keeps Multi-Love vivacious and approachable by including a broad range of beats and lyrical topics that span across the political and psychological realm.

While Multi-Love won’t be the buzz album of the summer, UMO has nonetheless created a beautiful collection of songs that fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. Each track on the album is unique and beautiful in its own right, but the whole remains greater than the sum of its parts. So roll a joint, pack a picnic and enjoy some Multi-Love.