Born in the Dominican Republic, raised in Florida and now living in Brooklyn NY (of course), George Lewis Jr. , aka, Twin Shadow released this debut in the late fall/early winter of 2010 to much critical acclaim. Catching the attention of Grizzly Bear's Chris Taylor, who produced and released the album on his Terrible Records imprint in North America, Forget explores the classier side of electronica and would not sound out of place alongside late 70s/early 80s Bowie, Roxy Music, OMD, etc."Tyrant Destroyed" ushers in the listener with the use of a slow, slightly distorted bass drum to create a woozy dreamlike sound while the lyrics recall a fading love ('love and darkness, such a tyrant destroyer, as you sat sinking in my head).
"Shooting Holes" aims for the dancefloor with its shuffling beat, a synthesizer that may have been swiped from Grand Master Flash's "The Message", and lyrics that would make Morrissey proud - 'Bite the hand I know she doesn't care, leave a trail the hounds will find us anywhere'.
While many of the sounds found on Forget recall the 80s, songs such as "Castles in the Snow" and "Tether Beat" have hazy, ghost in the machine synthesized moments that have much in common with 2010 chillwave bands Salem and oOooOO. "For Now" on the other hand sounds like it could have been written by fellow Brooklynites, Yeasayer.
There is much to like on Twin Shadow's debut and would be one of the top albums of 2010 if it had one or two hits such as Sam Sparro's "Black and Gold" or The Postal Service's "Such Great Heights". Without those songs though, sometimes it feels like looking at a calm lake that resembles a sheet of ice; very nice but could use a few waves of excitement to break it up.
7/10
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