Little Dragon: Ritual Union

Little Dragon
Ritual Union
Rating: Meh

Swedish electro-pop act have slowly been building buzz over the past few years, releasing two albums of jazz and R&B tinged electronic pop, and lead singer Yukimi Nagano has seemingly popped up everywhere as a guest vocalist on a slew of high-profile albums from Gorillaz, SBTRKT, Koop, and Maximum Balloon. So the release of Ritual Union should be the album that propels them to worldwide success, right? Their first self-titled album leaned heavily towards R&B and jazz, which was then honed to a more electronic edge on the follow up Machine Dreams, which appeared to indicate that they would move to a more electronic pop sound going forward. Instead, Ritual Union is a strange addition to their catalog. While it leans to a more electronic base, it focuses more on minimalism and textures rather than hooks. Previously, Little Dragon would abandon sounds that didn't seem to work, always moving forward. Here, it almost appears that they are focusing solely on sounds that don't work, leaving Ritual Union as a well-produced album that doesn't feed the soul.

And the album is very well produced; clear and clean, with all the elements working well together. The focus unfortunately is on the sound of the record and not the heart of the songs. What should have some emotion heft is clearly lacking, and the cold sterility of the songs becomes oppressive. Title track and lead song "Ritual Union" is the perfect example. It is a lush, poppy electro song, that should pulse and throb, but instead just languishes under bloopy/whooshing synths. Nagano's jazzy vocals merely hover over the beats but don't provide any meat.



"Little Man" sounds like it was cobbled together using keyboards bought at a neighborhood Target.

Little Dragon - Little Man by twelvemajorchords

"Brush The Heat" is all texture and no melody.



When Little Dragon finally kicks in and plays to their strengths they put together some fantastic pop music. "Shuffle A Dream" is all bouncy/sparkly synths and sassy vocals.



"Nightlight" works a funky, quirky synth vibe.



Not that some of the more moodier tracks are not as good. The end of the album features a couple of standout electronic/ambient tracks. "When I Go Out" uses almost typewriter-like percussion skittering over an auto-tuned vocal from Nagano.



And "Seconds" features one of Nagano's most delicate vocals, smoothly filtering through an electronic lullaby. It's just that the rest of the album floats along under half-baked musical ideas that don't really work. "Please Turn" is all synth drones and narcotic vocals. "Summertearz" overworks a squonky bed of keyboards and another inscrutably obtuse vocal. Even a mid-album song like "Precious" can't save things; its dubstep-influenced bass, skittering percussion, and wonky synths work for awhile, before become just another mess of overproduced synth noodling.

I had very high hopes for Ritual Union, thinking it would be the album that would break the band big. Unfortunately, it is like they got cold feet and decided to retreat more into an "experimental" state. While I appreciate their willingness to stretch their sounds in new directions, by focusing on their weaknesses they have almost ruined their forward momentum. While Ritual Union certainly is not an embarrassment, it is definitely not going to be the blockbuster most people have expected from them.

Rating Guide

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.