Robot - 33.(3)

Description

Originally assembled in London, Robot was exported to Berlin as part of a study on artificial intelligence within music. Scientists were surprised when this humanoid fellow began to display tendencies of free will, as Robot rejected the cold gray techno of his new surroundings, instead painting modernist melodic landscapes in full Technicolor sound. Fascinated by physical human instruments – all of which he learned to play himself – Robot has produced a collection of lush pop-rock songs.

His rich compositions also serve as a cushion for his lyrical observations, reflecting a sage naiveté, an outsider perspective from within. Opening track “Bones” lays the foundation for a corporeal existence, but Robot is grappling more with those peskiest of organs: the heart and the brain. The two following tunes, “Tru Luv” and “Head”, illustrate that even machines have growing pains!

It seems that the more time Robot spends around humans, the more he begins to resemble one. Lead single “The Night is Made for Two” sounds like it could be a reverse-engineered Roy Orbison song but is actually based on Robot’s own clinically proven feelings after spending a night with his muse, Siri (who also sings backing vocals on the track).

This sweet and sensitive creature has also made a connection between his own precarious existence and that of other sentient non-humans, a theme he explores on “Pig” atop a catchy orchestral soundtrack. It’s not just rights for “Animals” that Robot is concerned with, though: this androgynoid picks apart the silly rules of gender with the bionic boogie of “Girls”.

But as Robot becomes increasingly reprogrammed by his new emotions, he starts to lose the innocence he began with. “Anger” is a gentle ballad that closes the album with a dangling resolution, trying to focus on the sweet despite the bitter. Able to see the world in more than just zeros and ones, this Robot definitely passes the Turing test.