The brand new album ‘Trouble’ by Orlando Higginbottom aka Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs or TEED is something of a masterpiece that feels like it’s been a prehistoric wait to hit the shelves. A creation he has kept a close guarded secret in his underground musical laboratory, where he extracts synths from dinosaur fossils and basslines from the tusks of Ceratopians. No, I’m joking. but if you haven’t already guessed, I’m pretty excited about this long awaited release.
Starting the album off with Promises, you hear a soft tone that slowly and unexpectedly breaks out into what is an incredible tropical melody. It transports you to a beach in the 80’s surrounded by inflatable animals, cocktails and happy people splashing around in the sea. You can just imagine Orlando wearing some palm tree sunglasses singing into the camera lense. The album carries on much like this, with plenty of uplifting summery beats and delicate vocals.
Your Love changes the tune a little bit; it has a real classic vocal house feel to it with a big bassline that you can get your teeth stuck into. It’s one of those dance floor tunes that you know people are going to bounce along to and it shows because apparently the Crosstown Rebels guys have already been playing it! My favourite song from the album is the tribal infatuation; Panpipes. Which I’m finding hard to even put into words! Imagine being in Brazil at the Rio carnival and Orlando has his very own Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs float that is playing this song. The Dino Dancers are covered in feathers, Orlando is at the top in a little alcove on his keyboard and confetti cannons are being shot from every angle. It’s brilliant bongo madness!
The very well known and loved Garden, is next, and then something strange happens… The album turns a corner and enters a deep dark woods where it starts to get a little heavier. Solo is a gritty fidgety song with a huge techno influence that is definitely unexpected from the mastermind of electro pop. He has pushed the boundaries and has created something quite spectacular that I can see being a popular choice to play amongst some of the DJ’s coming out of Bristol at the moment. Tapes and Money is another favourite, the catchy lyrics and uplifting tones mixed with the stompy bassline make it a huge summer tune!
Finally, heading into the dinosaur disco with my red glittery shoes intact, Stronger ends the album on a high note! A funky disco song with, bouncy beats, screechy synths and a few claps here and there. It’s fantastic, fantabulous, and magnificent. This man is the ultimate creator who has changed the way we interpret music. His mind must work in some fasinating ways because I’ve never heard an album so well put together and so inventive from start to finish. He could bring out every one of these songs and they would all be successes. Buy it now!
9.5/10
