Review: Freidrich$ gathers career-best songs for compilation, ‘I Wanna Be Adored: The Best of Freidrich$’
The writer/singer/producer swings for the fences.
Freidrich$ is a trickster of sounds. He shifts through samples like flipping a Rolodex. “Sometimes loving someone is wanting what’s best for them,” he sings, with mellow smoothness in “RH” (or rather, “Radiohead,” an homage to the iconic band). An essential performance from his compilation, I Wanna Be Adored: The Best of Freidrich$, the song drips like tree sap before erratically shattering into a million pieces within the last 30 seconds. And that’s the very nature of his work. He fractures sounds before rearranging them, jagged edges and all, into new and exciting configurations. Across 13 songs, he keeps the listener entranced by not only his twisty designs but a vocal that’s both velvety and metallic.
“When I’m around you, I just want to die,” he smirks with “Lovesong,” a deceptively cheeky lyric wrapped inside sweltering heat. It’s not long before its silkiness dissipates, and there’s nothing but a stylized ad janky skeleton left behind. Freidrich$ leaves no psychedelic stone unturned. He allows himself to experiment and follow his muse wherever it may lead. It might not make much sense, but it produces some of the most adventurous pop music in recent years. “Blood (Da Bu Di Da Bu Di)” is built upon an organic, guitar-gilded arrangement, whereas “Liberal Life” is like a stone pebble that leaves tiny prints all over a crystalline pond.
The nature of Freidrich$ is quite simple: he’s never tethered to one genre or style. He slides between cool throwback R&B and a sticky modern take on popular melodies that are tough to chew but easy to swallow. By the time “Pumpkinhead” erupts with its shallow acoustic warble, the writer/singer/producer has left all there is to leave on the hardwood floor. “I’m a terror in your streets,” he admits. His voice adheres to a strict, horse-like giddy-up, even when the arrangement rushes by the eardrums as a refreshing waterfall. It’s such a juxtaposition that defines his work.
I Wanna Be Adored: The Best of Freidrich$ gives a quick, digestible glimpse into his catalog. And it ultimately intoxicates the listener enough to put his wealth of albums on a constant loop. It’s not often you get delivered such an ambitious cross-section of an artist, but through this compilation, you get the sense that he’s just getting started. But where could he go from here? To the cosmos and beyond, obviously.
