F1regek - Desolation

2024 Album

F1regek - Desolation [Album] (2024)


Track-by-track thoughts:

T1 - a great mood setter for the album, had a very nice groove and i think the panning worked mostly in its favor (not the biggest fan of the hard right hi-hat but it's a tiny gripe), the beat switch was also a bit abrupt but the second beat was nice and fit well with the rest of the song, i did like the switch more on my second listen though


Everybody, Please Remain Seated! - off and mismatched beats like this are a guilty pleasure of mine, and i love how many elements there are to the beat without feeling overwhelming (the windows sample was unexpected but it fit surprisingly well with the track), on my second listen, it sticks out among the other tracks in a mostly good way (but it does kinda clash in tone with the surrounding tracks)


T2 - maybe in terms of album flow, it's not that smooth of a transition to go from a more energetic and adventurous track to a droning, low tempo track with spoken word lyrics, but as a standalone track, i really like T2, and the beat switch is great too, the first half feels like you're sneaking around an abandoned mansion, and the second half feels like you've been noticed, not exactly caught, but someone is definitely aware of your prescence
i feel pretty mixed on the lyrics that are at the start of the second beat (and right at the end of the song too), while i think they fit the track i'm not personally a big fan of them, but it's mostly the voice for me


We're About to Take Off - the first part is, instrumentally, one of the brighter tracks, which makes it stand out in a good way since it still fits with the rest of the album instead of sticking out like a sore thumb (again, in terms of album flow, maybe i'd prefer T2 to go right before T3, but it's not that big of a jump), the droning section going into the second beat was a nice way to switch the song up


T3 - my second favorite instrumental right after T1, and the lyrics were surprisingly well written for a mostly instrumental record (thanks to Stine Peters for posting the lyrics in the comments too) but delivery-wise, Stine's lyrics could use more room, i think their vocals would fit better if they were more expansive and echoey, and while i like offbeat spoken word lyrics, f1regek's lyrics leave a bit to be desired, they sound slightly bored and the flow is all over the place, and not really in a good way. the outro was great though, very groovy


Against All Odds of Aging - the first half was great as a break from the rest of the album, but right when it felt like it was building up to something, the beat goes completely silent, and a completely different track starts, and that's not to say that the second half is bad, i thought it was pretty good, but the transition was abrupt and borderline nonexisting. i think the vocals were way better delivered than on T3, but they did feel a bit separate from the beat, i think they could've used more panning and effects to make them feel more integrated with the track


T4 - i really like how lyrics become more predominant as the album goes on, but sadly, this is the weakest track in the album, the first half is by far the lowest point of the album, it feels like the table scraps of the rest of the tracks all combined, which kinda brings down the second half, which is very strong by comparison. also, the vocals weren't as strong as they were on Against All Odds of Aging, they feel underwritten and weakly delivered, almost like a reference track left in the final mix


heaven silhouettes - gardening alone remix [YOUTUBE EXCLUSIVE TRACK] - not going in depth since it's a youtube exclusive remix but i did like it a lot and it added quite a bit to the album without taking anything away from T4. T4 felt like a good outro and this remix felt like a nice bonus at the end



overall the album surpassed my expectations and was a good listen from start to finish. honestly, i'll probably add T1 and Everybody, Please Remain Seated! to my playlist i feel a lot of albums start to drag on by the end but this one stayed both dynamic and consistent throughout, will definitely check out the rest of F1regek's stuff out soon


Final rating: gek/10, also known as 6♯/10

Favorite song: T1/gardening alone remix

Least favorite song: T4