Mount Kimbie – “We Go Home Together” (Singles Going Steady)

Adriane Pontecorvo: Dissonance is the key to “We Go Home Together”, where James Blake’s wandering voice and the looping background melody float in artful disarray. There’s a marionette-like awkwardness to it, something eerie and not quite right. Something intriguing. Keeping the song short was a good artistic choice, as the momentum here is minimal and secondary to the overall mood. Also a good artistic choice: the disjointed imagery of the video, blurred neon lights, still shots moving too quickly. Nothing is quite where it should be in “We Go Home Together”, and that’s the track’s greatest strength. [7/10]

Mike Schiller: On one hand, to play with the bounds of form and structure is Mount Kimbie’s whole deal. They’ve made their name on being not just unpredictable, but unbeholden to style, genre, or the limitations of being an “electronic” artist. On the other hand, such intentional formlessness can be difficult to harness into interesting works of art. James Blake does his best with what he’s given here, but the deconstructed-ness of this deconstructed soul song is working against him. After a promising and engaging first minute, listening to it all fall apart is disconcerting and disappointing; Mount Kimbie succeeds in evoking a mood, but not much else. [5/10]

Andrew Paschal: “We Go Home Together” is smokey, not so much in the sense that it is cloudy and opaque but more in that it is shapeless and diffuse. The delectable organs converse only fleetingly with James Blake’s ever-mournful vocals as if caught on recording entirely by chance before being inevitably pulled apart again, dissipating out the windows. Any two-and-a-half-minute track is going to feel short, and in this case, there is the added sense that very little happens at all, compounding the impression of brevity. Mount Kimbie takes an intriguing risk in that regard, though the song’s vanishing act kind of dwarfs its ephemeral beauty. [6/10]

Chris Ingalls: Imagine a sample-heavy yet organic, soul-infused take on dubstep with more than a smidgen of DJ Shadow. That’s a lot of hyphens for one description, but Mount Kimbie earns it. A towering Hammond organ presence looms over guest vocalist James Blake’s lovely crooning, creating a unique and sometimes puzzling pastiche. If it sounds like a new genre of music is being created right in front of you, well, that’s probably it. [8/10]

Paul Carr: The UK electronic duo’s first release since 2013 sees them join up with their former backing singer James Blake in an attempt to recalibrate your soul. It’s built around a soulful yet slightly maudlin organ sound which perfectly suits a tender and fragile vocal turn from James Blake. It’s a haunting song that floats and glides like the wind in a dilapidated, abandoned building, sending shivers up your spine. It leaves a chilly, coldness even in the warmest room. [7/10]

SCORE: 6.60