Critics say that you have your whole life to make your debut album, and the second is commonly a repeat to some degree of the first one. The third album is the sticky point where a lot bands cannot make pass, at least not with the same momentum of the first two. With the release of “Ritual Union”, Little Dragon finds themselves at that dreaded junction. To intensify the pressure Little Dragon is now a lot more popular due to their impressive appearances and collaborations with artists such as the Gorillaz, Dave Sitek and SBTRKT.
“Ritual Union” is more streamlined in comparison to “Little Dragon” and “Machine Dreams”. This album is focused, with a straight forward, linear sound that undoubtedly knows what it is doing. Little Dragon was aiming for a particular sound or atmosphere and to their credit; the band did accomplish that objective. Nothing feels out of place here, all the subtle details sound calculated and labored rather than spontaneous studio experiments.
The overall sound is clean, shiny and almost sterile. That proves to be the albums strength; though the gloss and sheen simultaneously makes “Ritual Union” sound a bit soulless and robotic. Another added risk with this approach is that with time, there is a greater probability of sounding dated due to the ever increasing sound engineering technology.
“Ritual Union” is rhythm heavy, with strong electronic drums that are every so often synchronized with acoustic drums. The tempo and groove is constant, unrelenting and this is nicely illustrated during opening two tracks “Ritual Union” and “Little Man”. The lead singer Yukimi Nagano maintains her sultry and seductive vocals that never overreach and go for the high notes and that is a strong point for the record.
However, unlike her collaborations that I loved, her hooks didn’t hit me right away. There weren’t particularly bad but they lacked that magical punch that made me love songs such as “If Your Return” or “Empire Ants”. To me this is one of the reasons that ultimately hold the album back from being a great release of 2011.
Another reason is that the album is not very diverse, most if not all the tracks hover around the same tempo and that can make them a bit indistinguishable from one another. The last two tracks are more experimental and adventurous but they are still cut from the same cloth as the rest of the album. As a result “Ritual Union” ends up being a solid release from a band that still has a lot to offer. The album is definitely worth checking out.
Song of the day is "Ritual Union(Live) "
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