After taking a year off from music to focus on his mental health and giving perhaps the most unenthusiastic album promotion on his Twitter last month, electronic music producer deadmau5, real name Joel Zimmerman, re-emerged with the release of his eighth studio album, W:/2016ALBUM/ on Friday. Unfortunately, after listening to the music, Zimmerman’s apathy for his own sound is understood, as the album is ultimately a messy, disorganized combination of experimental electronica.

at least you dont have to sit here and endure me constantly peddling shit. buy this, out now, buy that, wahhh click here.
— dead mow cinco (@deadmau5) November 20, 2016

COZ I GOT FUCKIN MAD BILLS. https://t.co/E6ChMrF1GP
— dead mow cinco (@deadmau5) November 20, 2016

just fucking around. its nothing amazing. https://t.co/Nr1Bpy7Jbn
— dead mow cinco (@deadmau5) November 28, 2016

this is seriously a love/hate thing happening here. But, a thing, nonetheless. and it’s good to be doing things.
— dead mow cinco (@deadmau5) November 20, 2016

Judging from Zimmerman’s tweets, it is clear the 35-year-old Canadian electronic producer is well aware of his ability and brutally honest when he’s slacking. And while W:/2016ALBUM/ isn’t a god-forbid-anyone-listen-to-this type of bad, it appears Zimmerman is in a creative slump despite taking seemingly unique moves when combining synthesizers with clinky-clanky beats.

“4ware,” is an interestingly chill tune to open the album, that slowly builds tension over the duration of the 8-minute song. Yet, you don’t really get any sense of what to expect from the album, as the opening track fails to elicit much emotion. However, it grows apparent that the song, sounding like a stock club banger from 1997, is actually the calm before the storm that is the rest of this release. “2448” follows as easily the worst out of the 11 tracks on this album, excessively employing bass drops that leave its listeners uncomfortable halfway in.

As you listen to several of the tracks, you don’t ever understand the direction of Zimmerman’s production. On some songs, you hear synthesizers with sound effects like dream harps peppered in, while others sound suspiciously similar. On “Let Go,” Grabbitz lends his vocals in an unnecessarily epic open for a song whose second half had me thinking I was listening to the album on shuffle, as its melody sounds nearly identical to the first track of the release.

On his Twitter, Zimmerman stated he was only happy with two songs, brought together both by their unity, as they collectively evoke a sinister tone. “Snowcone” is a soothing showcase of Zimmerman’s dark trip-hop beats, while “Whelk Then” concludes the album with industrial beats that somehow don’t sound abrasive, and once the creepy choir is cued, gloom feels imminent.

The album may contain fleeting moments of ambience and funk, but overall, the musical composition isn’t very original nor cohesive. Hopefully, in the near future Zimmerman will release content he’s proud of so his fans aren’t left with a rushed comeback album.

2/4 Shells