Review: Untrue by Burial

Wow, what a vibefest. I'd never heard of Burial, but Wikipedia and YouTube comments tell me Untrue is a landmark album in the genre¹. I believe it, especially having debuted in 2007. If someone I admired had shown me this album when it came out, you'd have seen me out there after dark, roaming around and feeling melancholy with this in my headphones.

Untrue is a really good tone setting album. It's cohesive enough that you can have it on in the background and you won't necessarily notice it, but the feels will permeate the space. The atmosphere is dark and gloomy and industrial, but the chopped up R&B vocals give it a tinge of hopefulness. The result is an emotional landscape that feels intentional and rich. There's definitely a particular state the artist is crafting in your mind, and it morphs gradually over the album, like you're walking thru a neverending city with topography that undulates away in every direction.

I don't listen to a lot of instrumental music, but this one will go next to things like The Fall of Math, All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone, and From Our Living Room to Yours on the shelf labeled "Vibes from a Certain Era".