Albert Salt Is Not Alright

Albert Salt – occasional synthpop stylist, sometime baroque balladeer and ever-impressive Melbourne muso – still has some things to “Even Out.” If “25,” the new single from his upcoming EP, is to be believed, there’s more than a handful of reasons why. 

The idea of a ‘quarter life crisis’ seems to have been getting a bit more time recently, but long have the wilds of the mid-20s proved a fount of anxiety, angst and insular strife. In Albert’s telling, it’s “the building anxiety of being alone” that sparks his stress-machine dance cut, an intricate arrangement of short verses, looping refrains and “a sudden insecurity.” If the music itself is shaped by years of experience, the lyrics throughout are the very opposite: raw, confessional and to-the-point, with Albert having only recently taken those reins from longtime collaborator Patrick Dower.

“25” follows in the vein of “Even Out,” the first single from the EP-to-be, fusing relentless energy with synthy foundations. If anything, Albert trades some of his glitchier affectations for greater emotional heft, his voice an island of humanity in a sea of pulsing electronica. A melody adrift in a relentless space, “25” lands not only as a song about a relatable panic, but as a beautiful rendering of an acute and familiar feeling. 

The potency of the short, sharp cut has its roots in Albert’s long and storied musical journey, one that’s seen him fuse his past in classical musicianship with his voracious interest in modern sounds and styles. It’s a passion he’s equally keen to share and, on his playlist Music That Inspired 25, Salt lists artists such as Arcade Fire, NEU!, King Gizz, PJ Harvey and Radiohead as inspirations.

He’ll be the first to admit that his view of influence is unconventional. That’s seen nowhere better than his recent spate of covers, which blur the line between direct homage and multi-track supercuts. Take “Midnight Sky,” a cover of Miley Cyrus’ recent single that incorporates not only elements of “Edge of Seventeen” – the Stevie Nicks track that attracted many comparisons – but also a refrain from Chic’s “I Want Your Love” and a passage from Justin Timberlake’s “What Goes Around, Comes Around.” If that doesn’t come together in your head you’re certainly not alone, but Albert comes through in both vision and virtuosity. 

Maybe you wondered how Mike Oldfield’s “Tubular Bells” sounded alongside Dead Prez’s “Hip Hop”? Turns out, they pair well with a Timbaland loop and the vocal line of Radiohead’s “Talk Show Host.” Fitting together fragments of songs like pieces of a sonic puzzle isn’t so much a skill as the spoils of a skill, consequences of the way that Albert looks at music altogether. It’s this prowess that helps inform his striking vision of pop, one that reaches beyond genre, mood and discipline.

“25” is existential dread you can really get down to, and that’s a nice change. It’s the kind of song you could pretty easily imagine Thom Yorke contorting to, especially if you’ve ever caught Atoms for Peace live. 25 is a confusing age, and as we court chaos in 2020, it’s clear there have certainly been better times to grapple with these existential questions. It’s one small consolation to know that Albert need not worry about his music – when it comes to his craft, the man’s never been better.