In a sense, Human Voice may be a telling clue of what this album definitely does not need.
Bleep bloop, bleep bloop. So begins the latest album from Jimmy Tamborello (of The Postal Service fame) under his Dntel moniker. What might be in store for the composer after his band’s much talked about breakup? A return to form, no doubt. Free from the constraints of Gibbard’s sacharine-like vocals, Tamborello has developed nice little sketches of sound that need no human mediation to express themselves. This is computer music for the sentimental teenager in all of us. At times, it seems Tamborello has cribbed from the Baths’ playbook, but this proves to be just a sonic coincidence seeing as the latter tends to favor pronounced beats, while Tamborello’s output is a tad more playful, a tad more kid-like.
Oh, but wait, album opener “Human Voice” does have a voice! But it is in no way used in the same as Gibbard’s. This voice is a hopeful, feminine computer moan that enunciates no words, just sounds. Dntel’s Human Voice is not an electronic album that actively tries to emulate a human voice, rather, it is one that finds computer voices constantly trying to prove themselves more than human. It is a testament to Tamborello’s production work that his brand of lively, synthy, electronic music can do this without sounding straight out of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
In a sense, Human Voice may be a telling clue of what this album definitely does not need. Could anyone imagine a human trying to sing over Tamborello’s hyperactive beats? “If I Stay Minute” makes a case for the primacy of a vocal simple over a straightforward voice. The sample is unintelligible due to it being reversed but it fits the beat and, more importantly, it makes for a fantastic listening experience as it reaches its climax.
“Hyperactive” and “kid-like” are not signifiers one usually uses to talk about an artist co-signed by Leaving and Stones Throw, but Tamborello leaves this reviewer no choice but to use them. If Human Voice makes a positive case for something, it is for Tamborello’s production talents. As Dntel, he needs no other voice but his own.
Human Voice is available on Leaving / Stones Throw.
