digital subculture
Bladee: Exeter
An album of two halves from the cult icon and ‘Drain Gang CEO’
Very few artists can claim to command a fanbase as devoted and cult-like as the Swedish phenomenon Bladee. His awkward demeanour and minimal stage presence pairs with his much-chronicled yet esoteric mythos to form an internet-based incarnation of the archetypal introverted genius. i-D labelled him ‘a sort of auto-tuned dark angel’ in 2018; indeed, his aesthetic lineage can be traced back to the ‘witch house’ of the late 2000s and early 2010s, although his aesthetic has certainly evolved far beyond that since then. Bladee usually offers the listener unfettered escapism into his vaguely occult, Crowley-esque world in its various guises - in terms of artistic vision, worldbuilding and execution, he is unmatched. He takes a gnostic turn on Exeter (even the name evokes images of the medieval religious centre), but offers only a skeleton of an idea of this new world.
If ascribing such cult status and divine providence seems a bit excessive for a 'cloud rapper’ who is yet to receive widespread critical acclaim, Exeter shows why it perhaps is - Bladee himself pleads to fans ‘I’m not special’ on the track OPEN SYMBOLS (PLAY) BE IN YOUR MIND, echoing similar lyrics from 2017’s Christmas trap banger ‘Frosty the Snowman’. Moreover, Exeter exemplifies why many music critics are reluctant to embrace Bladee - on first listen, it sounds lazy and unfinished and it takes a serious leap of faith to make any sense of the sparse synths and beats loosely connected by Bladee’s monotone croon. A common criticism of Bladee’s music is that it is lifeless and leaves the listener devoid of any feeling; usually, any fan will tell you that this is the complete opposite of the truth, but on the uninteresting first half of Exeter it’s a difficult case to make.
The turning point is the track ‘Every Moment Special’, the emotional punch of which is helped to be realised by its resemblance to intense 2018 slow jams ‘Smile’ and ‘Sentence’. From this point, the album really starts to come together. Bladee’s autotune-infused drawl pairs better with the ethereal production of Gud (the man behind many of Yung Lean’s pioneering mid-decade hits) as it soars high with the synths on ‘DNA RAIN’ and dances playfully with fellow Drain Gang member Ecco2k’s baby voice on standout shimmering track ‘LOVESTORY’ before landing in a sonic wonderland on the album closer ‘IMAGINARY’. However, the lack of fun or interesting lyrics is still disappointing for a lyricist of Bladee’s wit and creativity. This is an album of two halves; while the first falls short of engaging with the listener in any meaningful way, the second offers a much firmer grip on Bladee’s creative vision.
Overall, Exeter suffers from inaccesibility and the first half poses a challenge of imagination for even the most seasoned of fans. The first-time Bladee listener is much better served by previous album Icedancer, which showcases much more of Bladee’s lyrical and stylistic chops through a series of exquisite, ice-cold trap bangers and follows a more conventional blueprint. Although Exeter is my least enjoyable Bladee project to date, it does follow his familiar recipe of equal parts irony and earnestness and cements his place at the vanguard of a new generation of metamodern artists alongside friend and collaborator Hannah Diamond and the experimental pop duo 100 gecs to which he is often compared. Exeter is music for the mind unbounded by normal creative limits, which perhaps makes sense given that it was allegedly created under the influence of DMT during a week-long stay in a remote house on the Swedish island of Gotland.