Release Date: Dec 15, 2019
Born in Palm Springs, CA, US3R currently habitates the great city of Seattle, WA. Strangely, US3R is indie... given the quality of his work... I am surprised there haven't been record labels banging at his door. The quality of his sound is unparalleled. More so, sometimes when I am listening to his work, I have to stop for a moment in awe at how his brain works.
In short: This gent isn't a normal thinker.
There are parts in many of his songs that seem to have a reminiscent sound, but then, out comes some part that catches you by surprise. Indeed, there have been short, fleeting moments where I swear I have heard nothing like it. And given the collective of ALL music produced to date, I'd say this is a staggering achievement. Being that this album was additionally recorded in Pioneer Square, Seattle WA, it seems to have picked up the ghosts of an era just gone by. Indeed, there is a grungy quality to this album that surely only the ghosts of Seattle could be summoned to catalyze.
So, luckily for all of us, US3R turned to Yours Truly to let me in on the new album. Basically, if you are not yet familiar with US3R, his genre is Electro Pop with a grungy overtone. His content is actually deep, touching on contemporary issues such as our current situation with society and tech... but not leaving out love and how it has... I guess you can say.... changed...(???).
Thus, with this as the case, "Influence" is about social media, influencer culture and the breakdown of intimacy due to technology. Basically, his lyrics revolve around how all this affects us... and fucks us... at the same time. If you take note of the song lineup, you will note "Millennial Blues"... do I even have to begin to explain? From the cover art of a cell phone on fire (Fucking cell phones... I loved this image, personally...) and right over to the 1st song on the album (Also the 1st to be written and recorded) "I Wanna Be Famous"... it is apparent that US3R is not at all ignorant of the current state of affairs... and how much of a bloody fucking mess it all is. In fact, US3R writes all about how fucked our modern plane really is... and how the ever-evident presence of technology has sort of stuck itself into all our lives as an overly obnoxious 3rd-wheel.
So...
THE POSITIVE: "Influence" has a fucking UNREAL SOUND. It sounds so nice, even if US3R couldn't write a song, it will still be worth listening to. Good thing is though, US3R CAN write a song and the album is full of 10 on 10s. My favorite is "FAKE" but that's because I have a personal lean to this idea. But don't let me INFLUENCE you too much here... every single song is a gem. If you do anything, make sure you give this album a listen you will be greeted by sounds that are reminiscent of something you might have heard... but also... sounds that you likely might never had heard before.
THE NEGATIVE: If I was going to be a dick, and be a supreme dick at that, I would say that the album songs are slightly of the same pace. Mind you, I can't see US3R making this album any other way. Not only to mention, US3R knows his own strengths and his own sound, thus, it can be counter argued that he HAD to do it this way. Indeed, it wouldn't be his sound if it was any other way. But this is me digging deep, being the biggest hypothetical ass-drizzle I can possibly be. And if this is the only thing I can come up with, you have to admit, this is a solid piece of work.
You can find US3R at the following Social Media links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/imtheus3r Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/imTheUs3r/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/us3r_official Website: https://www.imtheus3r.com
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/us3r-official
I give this 5 out of 5 big ass stars.
The biggest shame is that this won't be immediately distributed in high school English classes to replace boring ass classic books. If you want a relevant social commentary about shit that really matters all while being transmuted into a fucking great sound, "Influence" is the album you need.
Buy it.
Love it.
You won't regret it.
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