Starcatcher

Thus far in their discography, this is the band's worst-produced album. While moving away from the pristine production may be a good idea, and the vocals certainly needed some attention, these problems are not addressed very well. Rather than sounding raw or vintage, the sound here is messy and muddy, with the vocals touched up with various effects across the album. Occasionally they're given a touch of reverb, or made to sound like they're peaking on the microphone, or being performed underwater.

The enhanced vibrato becomes absurd at times, especially on Sacred The Thread and Waited All Your Life. At times, the band sound reminiscent of Lil Yachty's recent Let's Start Here. Of course, that album only came out a few short months before this one, so I can only imagine they must have heard Poland and tried to emulate that sound on either of these tracks. While Yachty certainly doesn't own this effect, its use comes across as either being inspired by him specifically, or being lifted from pop music trends at large. I would personally rather believe the band have a diverse pool of influences.

Beyond the stranger moments, there is remarkably little of interest here. When the bass is allowed to shine, it's a massive improvement over what we've heard on prior records. Unfortunately, there's little else to speak of, and Runaway Blues is barely a song.