• Consequence
  • Music
  • Film
  • TV
  • Heavy
Menu Consequence
Menu Shop Search Sale
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Live
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Mobile App
Advertisement
  • Consequence Podcast Network
  • Consequence of Sound Podcast

Album Review: The Internet Shine on the Nuanced Hive Mind

An album that dips into club culture as deftly as it relaxes into burnt sugar

hive mind stream the internet album syd
B+

Artists

  • The Internet

Formats

  • digital
  • vinyl
  • cd
Advertisement
Karas Lamb
July 26, 2018 | 10:00am ET

    Listen and subscribe via Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Radio Public | Stitcher | RSS

    The Lowdown: The fourth full-length studio album from The Internet and the band’s first release independent of the Odd Future imprint, Hive Mind is an almost seamless follow-up to their critically acclaimed 2015 album, Ego Death. They best the previous effort with full-bodied production and cleaner, more-focused writing.

    Advertisement
    Related Video

    The Good: Each of the band members’ respective solo projects served as fertile ground for the creation of Hive Mind, fostering the individual growth necessary to produce a well-balanced and explicitly confident group project after three solid formal albums that did more to showcase their ability to serve as keepers of the minimal funk pop flame than to push their work into new and exhilarating sonic territory. Hive Mind is inclusive of lo-fi bedroom beats, post-Soulquarian punk and soul, and the mothership tipico at the root of modern funk nostalgia. It reaches into club culture as deftly as it relaxes into burnt sugar. Lush arpeggios are matched by vocals that absolutely levitate. The band’s acute attention to detail and commitment to singularity create the kind of nuance that makes Hive Mind’s most effervescent compositions practically glitter.

    The Bad: The Internet is a well-oiled machine on Hive Mind, but also frighteningly comfortable reclining in the pocket to vamp on the aesthetic signature they have perfected. In defaulting to the latter, they lose sight of the opportunity to create a concrete emotional or thematic arc because the album – though undeniably beautiful – rarely departs from their newly elevated but all too familiar two-step cool to trouble the water until the end of the release.

    The Verdict: Though brief, a tardy reprise of the adventurous sound that opens the release is an exciting display of The Internet’s true brilliance, which finds them absolutely nailing every transition and avoiding the anticlimactic ending suggested by a number of the preceding tracks with a pair of stone-cold bops. Thankfully, the wins on Hive Mind are far greater than the sum of its losses.

    Advertisement

    Essential Tracks: “Come Together”, “Roll (Burbank Funk)”, “Beat Goes On”, and “Hold On”

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Reddit

Artists

  • Matt Martians
  • Syd
  • The Internet

More on this topic

  • Alternative R&B
  • Hip-Hop
  • Neo-Soul
  • Rap
  • Soul
  • Trip-Hop

Sign up for updates

Subscribe to our email digest and get the latest breaking news in music, film, and television, tour updates, access to exclusive giveaways, and more straight to your inbox.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitch
  • Tiktok
Advertisement

Popular Stories

Andy Fletcher of Depeche Mode death

Music

R.I.P. Andy Fletcher, Depeche Mode Founding Member Dead at 60

Ray Liotta Goodfellas

Film

R.I.P. Ray Liotta, Goodfellas and Field of Dreams Actor Dead at 67

Explore Flower Lab Pre-Roll Sampler Pack

Explore Flower Lab Pre-Roll Sampler Pack

Advertisement

rammstein dicke titten video

Heavy Consequence

Rammstein's New "Dicke Titten" Video Pays Homage to Large-Breasted Women: Watch

willow release date teaser trailer

TV

Disney+ Announces Willow Release Date, Shares Teaser Trailer: Watch

Personalized Stories

Around The Web

Latest Stories

Kyle Meredith With... Steven Page

Steven Page on Broadway and a Potential New Album

May 27, 2020

This Must Be the Gig - Princess Goes to the Butterfly Museum

Michael C. Hall and Princess Goes to the Butterfly Museum Revisit First Concerts

April 8, 2020

Kyle Meredith With... Archers of Loaf

Archers of Loaf on Writing New Music 23 Years Later

March 23, 2020

Kyle Meredith With... Liz Phair

Liz Phair on Horror Stories, Fairy Tales, and Her New Album

October 21, 2019

Advertisement

News

  • Music
  • New Music
  • Album Streams
  • Upcoming Releases
  • Film
  • TV
  • Pop Culture
  • Tours

Reviews

  • Music Reviews
  • Film Reviews
  • TV Reviews
  • Concert Reviews
  • Festival Reviews

Features

  • Editorials
  • Interviews
  • Lists
  • Rankings
  • Artist of the Month
  • Song of the Week

Live

  • Concert Tickets
  • Festival Tickets
  • Festival News
  • Tour Dates
  • Livestreams
  • Music Instruments & Gear

Heavy

  • News
  • Interviews
  • Concerts

More

  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Music Videos
  • Streaming
  • Wellness
  • Giveaways

Other sites

  • Heavy Consequence
  • Consequence Media
  • About
  • Privacy policy
  • Advertising
  • Terms
  • Contact
  • Copyright
  • Do not sell my personal information

Download our app

  • Get it on the App Store
  • Get it on Google Play
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitch
  • Tiktok
Consequence
Current story

Album Review: The Internet Shine on the Nuanced Hive Mind

Menu Shop Search Sale
Consequence
News
  • All News
  • Music
  • New Music
  • Album Streams
  • Upcoming Releases
  • Film
  • TV
  • Pop Culture
  • Tours
Reviews
  • Music Reviews
  • Film Reviews
  • TV Reviews
  • Concert Reviews
  • Festival Reviews
Features
  • Editorials
  • Interviews
  • Lists
  • Rankings
  • Artist of the Month
  • Song of the Week
Live
  • Concert Tickets
  • Festival Tickets
  • Festival News
  • Tour Dates
  • Livestreams
  • Music Instruments & Gear
Podcasts
  • The Opus
  • Kyle Meredith With...
  • Stanning BTS
  • The Story Behind the Song
  • The What
  • Going There with Dr. Mike
  • The Rome and Duddy Show
  • Rootsland
  • This Must Be The Gig
  • Assembly
Videos
  • Interview
  • Video Essay
  • Fan Theories
  • Sole Kitchen
  • Annotated Video
Heavy
  • News
  • Interviews
  • Concerts
  • Premieres
  • Culture
  • Beyond the Boys Club
  • Mining Metal
Shop

Follow Consequence

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitch
  • Tiktok
Close
Close