Review of 'Green Language' by Rustie

Rustie's latest EDM album feels excessive.


Scottish electronic producer, Rustie, released his debut, Glass Swords, in 2011. It was one of my favourite records of the year, blending sounds of the eighties, 90s rave, wonky and dubstep. Everything about it was so brilliantly sugary and nostalgic. It was an ice cream sundae in audial form.

In contrast, Rustie’s latest release, Green Language, is like something out of Epic Meal Time. It’s so obnoxiously over-the-top and over-indulgent, it makes me want to throw up.

What’s missing on Green Language is a sense of sweetness and soul, replaced instead by lots of gimmicky trap beats, excessive drops and hi-hats played at a million bpm. A few guest vocalists such as Danny Brown, D Double E and some dude with a vocoder named Redinho make forgettable contributions. The lyrics are pants and Rustie seems to take backstage, reeling in the creativity and resorting to comparatively dull beats.

Melody seems to be pushed aside for the most part on this record. Moments can be found shoehorned into half-baked filler tracks such as ‘Tempest’ and the ambient closing title track ‘Green Language’. Most frustrating is the track, ‘A glimpse’, which just starts to get interesting before immediately and abruptly fading out. This could have been one of the more epic parts on the record, but Rustie pulls out the life support for no reason, and the track just ends there and then.

It’s almost ironic that this record is called ‘Green Language’, a colloquial term for birdsong, or so Google tells me. This album doesn't have any of the pleasant qualities of birdsong. Its artificial and abrasive and lacking in direction. If this is birdsong, then its the sound of a robotic chicken running around without a head.

I'm pretty gutted with just how big a disappointment this, considering I loved almost every aspect of Glass Swords. I suppose you could argue that this is a lot more interesting than half the trap records being released nowadays. However, in the shadow of its mighty predecessor, it just feels extremely meagre. Let's hope Rustie isn't getting rusty and that the future won't be more of this style.

★★☆☆☆

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