I'm with you. I work in the music industry and this album smacks of first ideas and 'written in the studio' songs with two or three decent tracks that Hull kept for MO after working on so many other projects. Bear in mind that:
- MO wrapped Black Mile in 2016 and released in 2017 - lots of promo and tours in 2017/8.
- Andy Hull records Black Books III and other collabs in 2018 either whilst on tour or during breaks.
- Andy Hull co-produces and sings on Paris Jackson's album in 2019! Big money job. A lot of time and effort given it's a must job. Hull also attracts Phoebe Williams and many others off the back of Black Mile and does various collabs. Probably gets time to write the better tracks on MMOG in 2019.
- 2020 - Pandemic. Everyone is fucked.
- So at what point is MO focused with Andy to work solely on MMOG given the gap between Cope and Black Mile was 4 years with (3 months to record Hope).
Doesn't matter because he has a record label deadline. So the band now have one year to write and record the follow-up to Black Mile, a huge album, with pieces of songs (Many of the best of them ended up on Black Books, maybe two in Jackson's album). So 70% of MMOD sounds like pieces of ideas made into songs, not full productions like on Black Mile, Hope and Cope. Simplistic arrangements, bum notes not corrected and lots of slow tracks that sound the same. 30% is decent (Bedhead, Angel of Death), but Keel Timing and the quiet tracks aren't indie. They're drifting into mainstream rock. Sigh.
It's a rush label job. Even if 50% of the lyrics in MMOG are decent, there are many B-side sounding tracks by their standards (And Black Books III), with some poor decisions in the better tracks.
The logic seems to be 'try and make a couple of hits for the fans and suck them in with a weird marketing campaign that is like bait and switch. The album is the opposite of glitchy and abstract. Then make a load of not-so indie rock songs that the middle ground reviewers, and listeners, will like. Radio play and streams (Although let's see about the latter, I suspect it won't do so well as Black Mile)!
Bear in mind there ain't gonna be a world tour for this one, or merch. They will need advert and film/TV music deals to make a profit. More mainstream sounding and soft sounding works for that market.
Fuck it. Let's be grateful for what has come before and forgive MO for this if you only like two tracks from MMOD whilst played Black Mile on repeat for a year.
Many will like it because it's more commercial sounding without taking risks like in Black Mile with lyrics and arrangements.
But no doubt this what happens to many successful artists after a breakout album like Black Mile (Kevin Parker from Tame Impala did the same thing - produced Lady GaGa, took loads of LSD and made a Bee Gees inspired album, that was nothing like his amazing retro-indie rock). Success, drugs, distractions = poor next album.
But label is happy because it sounds more accessible to normies, picked up 82% on Metacritic so radio play and sync deals should roll in.
There are two works in the music business. Many forget the second one.